Rijiju row: 'Congress stirring controversy to unite Muslim votes' says BJP

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday slammed the Congress party for instigating an unwarranted controversy around Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju'S remark on Hindu population, and said that it is a well thought of plan by the grand old party to unite Muslim votes. "The whole controversy is the idea of Congress and Samajwadi Party as they are playing communal politics. All this is a well thought plan to unite Muslim votes in Arunachal Pradesh. And Kiren Rijiju has just given a mere clarification that in Hinduism, no religious conversion takes place," BJP leader Sayad Zafar Islam told ANI here. Rijiju yesterday dubbed as irresponsible the Congress allegation that Narendra Modi-led BJP Government was trying to convert Arunachal Pradesh into a Hindu state and asked the grand old party not to make such provocative statements. "Hindu population is reducing in India because Hindus never convert people. Minorities in India are flourishing unlike some countries around," Rijiju said in his tweet. Posting a series of tweets along with a screenshot of a news report that quoted the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee as saying that the BJP government is "trying to convert Arunachal Pradesh into a Hindu state", Rijiju reminded the grand old party that India is a secular country. "Why is Congress making such irresponsible statements? People of Arunachal Pradesh are unitedly living peacefully with each other. Congress should not make such provocative statements. India is a secular country. All religious groups enjoy freedom and living peacefully," he added.