NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning to launch the “Saugat-e-Modi” campaign to distribute special kits to Muslims and other minorities during the festive seasons, with the opposition calling the initiative a poll gimmick.
The party’s Minority Mocha, as part of the campaign, will collaborate with mosques to reach the needy people nationwide.
Through the programme, which will kick off from Nizamuddin in Delhi on Tuesday, the ruling party aims to distribute kits to 32 lakh underprivileged Muslims across the country ahead of Eid. For the scheme, 32,000 Minority Morcha workers will collaborate with 32,000 mosques nationwide.
Jamal Siddiqui, chief of the BJP Minority Morcha, outlined the campaign’s broader vision, stating that during the holy month of Ramadan and upcoming occasions like Eid, Good Friday, Easter, Nauruz, and the Indian New Year, the Minority Front will reach out to those in need through the “Saugat-e-Modi” campaign.
Eid Milan celebrations will also be organised at the district level, he added.
As part of the initiative, kits will be distributed containing essential items such as food supplies, vermicelli, dates, dry fruits, and sugar. Additionally, the kits will include clothing, with women’s packages offering fabric for suits and men’s kits featuring kurta-pyjamas. Each kit is estimated to cost between Rs 500 and Rs 600, reported news agency ANI citing sources.
With the announcement of the scheme, the politics heated up as the opposition accused the BJP of playing political gimmicks ahead of elections in Bihar, where Muslims constitute around 16-17% of the state’s total electorate and are particularly influential in districts such as Kishanganj, Araria, Katihar, Seemanchal region, and parts of central Bihar.
“You see there is an election in Bihar, they are not giving ‘saugat’ kits, but asking for votes through it. If they had the wish to give ‘saugat’ in Bihar, then they should have given the jobs to stop migration from Bihar,” Congress MP Ranjeet Rajan told news agency PTI.
NDA ally and Union minister Chirag Paswan, however, backed the BJP’s initiative calling it the outcome of PM Modi’s ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ idea.
“My PM Narendra Modi ji believes in ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’. With this thought, the central government and the Bihar government are working towards development,” Paswan said.
Ex-Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is currently MSME minister in Modi’s Cabinet, said: “The PM works in favour of all Indians irrespective of religion, caste. The misconception about him regarding the Muslim community should also be removed. He is for everyone. Needy people will be given the ‘saugat’.”