A crucial session of the BJP’s national executive commenced on Sunday with party President Amit Shah listing the alleged “mass migration” of Hindus from Kairana in Western Uttar Pradesh as well as violence in Mathura as illustrative of the Samajwadi Party’s alleged collusion with criminals and communal elements in the State.

Amit Shah mentioned these two incidents while talking about crucial assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand next year during his inaugural address to the national executive which is perceived as a strategic pronouncement by the delegates.

The BJP President said all these elections are “challenges” before the party but he dwelt mostly on Uttar Pradesh, targeting the ruling Samajwadi Party for the deteriorating law and order situation in the State.

Briefing the media about the highlights of Amit Shah’s inaugural address, BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “The party President said 2017 is a year of challenges for the BJP. In UP, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Gujarat, etc there are elections. UP was especially mentioned.

He said that the way the UP government is functioning is a cause of concern. Peace and law and order in the State are a direct casualty of this. He mentioned the violence in Mathura which is a result of the land grab in connivance with the government.”

Prasad said, the BJP President mentioned Kairana too in his speech.

“He said in Kairana, migration is happening because of violence. The SP is unable to stop the violence. There is lack of governance and hence there is lack of development,” Prasad said, quoting Amit Shah.

Exodus of Hindus The mention of Kairana is significant in the light of an ongoing campaign by the state BJP under the watch of Kairana BJP MP and Union Minister Hukum Singh, who was also linked to the major communal riots in Muzaffarnagar in Western UP in 2013.

Hukum Singh has been engaged in highlighting the alleged migration of 346 Hindu families from Kairana. While the state BJP is accusing the SP of “persecuting” the Hindu population to corner the minority vote in the assembly elections due next year, the BJP leaders and local cadres are engaged in mobilising the majority population in an increasingly polarised discourse.

The issue has become even more prominent after the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notices to the UP Government over similar complaints alleging exodus of Hinuds from Kairana.

To direct questions about whether the BJP was aiming to foment communal trouble in UP to consolidate the Hindu vote in the assembly elections, Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “These are baseless allegations. Our main plank is development. But development cannot happen without governance. Where is governance when law and order situation is deteriorating and common people are suffering from fear?” Prasad, however, conceded that the BJP’s campaign in UP would be about the state of lawlessness. “Our campaign would be based on the lack of law and order in the state,” he said.

Challenges ahead Besides the assembly elections, which Amit Shah said were part of the “challenges” before the BJP next year, the inaugural address also dwelt on the BJP government’s achievements in the last two years specifically mentioning “corruption free governance, decisive leadership, enhancement in India’s global prestige”.

Amit Shah also mentioned the Prime Minister Narendra Modi being awarded the highest civilian awards by two Islamic countries – Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.

Briefing the media about the BJP President’s address, party leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad explained that this specific point was mentioned to illustrate that “the campaign against Prime Minister Narendra Modi is directly in contrast with his international image and reputation”.

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