Gujarat polls: BJP slams Cong MLA over video on \'Muslim appeasement\'

AHMEDABAD: The Bharatiya Janata Party has accused the Congress in poll-bound Gujarat of "minority appeasement" after a video surfaced in which an opposition party MLA was purportedly heard claiming that only Muslims can save the country and the Congress.

The Congress, however, claimed the video was three years old and had been tampered with.

A Congress spokesperson said Chandanji Thakor, its sitting MLA from Siddhpur in Patan district and present candidate from the same seat, was at that time speaking at a campaign meeting about Hindu-Muslim unity for the country's progress and this point was removed from the clip.

Elections for the 182-member Assembly in the BJP-ruled Gujarat are scheduled on December 1 and 5.

In the video, Thakor was purportedly saying "we gave them (BJP) votes believing they will do something new but not just us, the entire country was cheated".

"Only the Muslim community can save the country and the Congress party," Thakor was heard saying in the clip.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra came out against the National Register of Citizens (NRC), while leaders from none of the 18 other political parties stood by Muslims, the MLA was heard saying.

Thakor was also heard saying in the clip that the BJP attempted to disturb the Muslim community in many ways, and cited the ban on the practice of triple talaq, stopping subsidy for Haj as well as scholarships for Muslim youth.

Reacting to the video, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in a tweet on Saturday night said, "Shameful words! Fearing defeat, Congress yet again resorts to minority appeasement. But Congress should know that no one will be able to save the Congress Party from defeat!"

The CM tagged Thakor's video with the tweet.

Gujarat BJP president C R Paatil also posted the video on his Twitter handle and said, "Congress, having forgotten its defeat, is playing the politics of religion. Such a loose speech of Congress MLA should not be accepted in any way. Even the Congress cannot save the Congress now. Defeat of the minority appeasing Congress is certain."

However, Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi while talking to PTI claimed the video was of 2019 and had been "tampered" with.

"Thakor was talking about Hindu-Muslim unity and had said the country will progress only when members of the two communities live together. This point has been edited out from the clip," Doshi said.