BJP's Uttar Pradesh in-charge Amit Shah today expressed the hope that if the NDA comes to power, its good governance will bring BJP closer to Muslims, who, he said, have maintained a distance from the party.
"Since BJP came into being, this gap between the Muslim community and the party has been played up. And because of this, there is a gap between the Muslim voters and BJP. But we neither divided the voters between Hindus and Muslims nor we intend to do so in future," he told a TV channel.
"When BJP will come to the Centre, our good governance will prove all our critics wrong and Muslims will come closer to us," he claimed.
Shah maintained that BJP has never discriminated between any religion and considered them equal while implementing policies and programmes.
He exuded confidence that BJP will win over 50 seats in Uttar Pradesh because of a "strong Modi wave" and dismissed the suggestion that BSP will spoil its chances in the elections.
Mayawati could have an edge but BJP will win, he said.
He also dismissed the contention that controversial statements made by him and other party leaders led to polarisation of votes in the state, saying the elections have been contested on the issue of development and that has been the main agenda in all the seats.
He also said the Muzaffarnagar riots had little impact on the polls as "riots happened in one corner but we are winning in all corners of the state".
Shah said the party gave tickets in all the seats based on the "winnability" factor while discounting suggestions that it did not put up a good fight in Rae Bareli and Amethi from where Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi contested respectively.
He said the party had decided to field Uma Bharti from Rae Bareli but it did not work.
Shah sought to defend Narendra Modi over the controversy that broke out over the 'neechi jat' remark, saying the BJP's prime ministerial candidate had only reacted after Priyanka Gandhi's attack over his backward caste.
