Rashid Alvi backs Manmohan govt on ‘nation’s resources for Muslims’ call, bats for their upliftment

New Delhi: Congress leader Rashid Alvi on Tuesday defended the Manmohan Singh government’s stand on prioritising minorities, Muslims in particular, for receiving the benefits of development, saying there was nothing wrong in that approach.

Speaking exclusively with IANS on the controversy over wealth redistribution to minorities, Rashid Alvi said that unnecessary fuss is being created over the then Prime Minister’s remarks.

“The Manmohan Singh government always believed that people in the last line should have the first right to the nation’s resources. And, Indian Muslims are indeed the most backward community.” Alvi told IANS.

Notably, the BJP and the Congress are engaged in a face-off after Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election rally on Sunday raked up Manmohan Singh’s statement made in 2006 that ‘minorities, Muslims in particular, should have the first right to the nation’s resources’.

The Congress called the speech ‘communal’ and even moved the Election Commission, while the BJP claimed that PM Modi’s speech was in response to Rahul Gandhi’s call for ‘wealth redistribution’ after the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress leader also underlined the need for bringing the ‘backward’ Muslim community at par with the mainstream, saying that unless such efforts are made, inclusive growth can never be achieved.

He also alleged that the BJP only respects the rich and powerful, and doesn’t care for the backward and unprivileged sections of the society.

When questioned who would be the Prime Minister after the Lok Sabha polls, he said that if the BJP wins the elections, Narendra Modi will surely continue to be the Prime Minister of the country.

Alvi, however, mocked the BJP over its ‘imaginary’ ‘400-paar’ target, claiming that even their own partymen don’t believe that the target could be achieved.

–IANS