From the Urdu Press: ‘PM Modi’s Rajasthan remarks a disservice to his office’; ‘uptick in successful Muslim UPSC aspirants a milestone’

As the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections heated up over the week, the Urdu dailies focused on the decline in the voter turnout in the first phase of polling, held across 102 constituencies in 21 states and Union Territories, seeking to decode its significance for the leading contenders. The dailies also took a dim view of the discourse in the poll fray, particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks regarding the Muslim community, calling them “unfortunate and disturbing”.

Commenting on Modi’s remarks at an election rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara that a Congress government would distribute the nation’s wealth among “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”, referring to the Muslim community, the Mumbai-based Urdu Times, in its April 23 editorial, says that the PM’s “400 paar” claim has eventually boiled down to “Hindu-Muslim politics” and not on his government’s performance over the last 10 years. “The electoral politics remains marked with criticism, allegations, ploys and manoeuvrings, but just to secure your vote bank, the targeting of over 14% population of the country by calling them names undermines the dignity of your high office,” the daily says. “The politics of fear has hit such a low that even the fear of mangalsutras being taken away was whipped up.”

The editorial points out that to level his allegation PM Modi referred to former PM Manmohan Singh’s purported statement that “Muslims have the first right on the wealth of the nation”. “The fact remains that during that speech (in December 2006), while flagging the need for judicious use of the country’s resources for equitable development of backward and vulnerable communities, Manmohan Singh had said that the first claim on resources lies with