Muslims merely used as 'ballot papers' in elections: Narendra Modi

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In an apparent attack on Congress, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi late on Sunday said that vote bank politics by rulers over the last many years has ensured that the nation remained ‘weak’ and ‘disintegrated’.

"Vote bank politics by rulers was to divide the people in India on the basis of minority and majority over the last 50 years," Modi said, while speaking at an event of Gujarat Ajmeri Charitable and Education Trust to felicitate students of Muslim community.

"You have been duped and deceived, and used as mere ballot papers only during the elections. How long would you like to remain like that?" Modi asked the gathering, exhorting them to join the mainstream and be partners in progress of the state.

"No society could attain all round growth if one section was weaker than the other, but unfortunately the past rulers had all these years ensured a large and powerful nation like India remained disintegrated and weak," Modi said.

"Muslims in Gujarat comprise 9 per cent of the population, of which five per cent are in government jobs, which in percentage terms was higher than West Bengal, a so called secular state," the chief minister said.

"Muslims comprise 25 per cent of the population in the so-called secular state like West Bengal but only two per cent of them are in government jobs," he pointed out.

He also wished that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh change his addresses to the public. "The Prime Minister in his speech from Red Fort while addressing the nation said... Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians. Can not he simply say my countrymen...?" Modi said, taking a dig at PM's address on Independence Day this year.