RJD Muslim MP gives big thumbs up to PM Modi

Unfazed by the show cause notice slapped on him by his party for praising Narendra Modi, RJD MP Mohammad Taslimuddin on Monday strongly endorsed the Prime Minister for the ‘salutary work’ he was doing in the ‘Muslim hub’ of eastern Bihar.

“The Modi Government has given Rs 500 crore for a railway line in Araria which had been pending for almost 10 years and the work on it is about to start. The PM surely deserves my praise”, Taslimuddin told HT on Monday afternoon, in his first reaction to the party notice.

Taslimuddin said Modi had done a great service to the people of eastern Bihar by giving Rs 1,000 crore to Aligarh Muslim University.

“Short of funds, the AMU VC had come to me in desperation. I took up the matter with the central government and the funding was approved. Why shouldn’t I praise the PM for the good turn?” Taslimuddin asked.

The RJD MP also said that whenever people from the Shashtra Seema Bal (SSB), a para-military force posted in the border areas of north and eastern Bihar, committed ‘atrocities’, the PM “always responded positively to our complaints”.

Taslimuddin’s responses came a day after RJD national secretary general S M Qamar Alam show-caused him for praising PM Narendra Modi in his various press interactions and also speaking out against the policies of the RJD as well as of the ‘grand alliance’ coalition.

“It appears, you are speaking the language of the RSS and the BJP. More so, as an RJD MP, you have not shied away from praising PM Narendra Modi on different occasions,” the show cause notice read.

The MP from Araria in Bihar has been asked to reply to the notice within the next seven days or else face disciplinary action.

“Taslimuddin’s statements against the party and coalition have helped the BJP. He has also praised the PM in a statement on May 14, referring to how Modi was doing a good job in running the country whereas Bihar suffered from poor law and order. This is not acceptable,” said Alam.

Taslimuddin’s reiteration of praise for PM Modi, in defiance of the show cause notice, is all the more significant because of the profile of his Lok Sabha constituency.

He represents Araria, comprising four districts of eastern Bihar, bordering West Bengal, known as the ‘Muslim hub’ because Muslims comprise between 35 and 70% of the population.

The praise is also notable for the fact that amid the Modi-powered sweep of the NDA in the May 1014 Lok Sabha polls, when the BJP-led alliance won 31 out of 40 seats in Bihar, it lost all four seats in the ‘Muslim hub’, namely, Araria, Purnia, Katihar and Kishanganj.

Describing the show cause notice as an “act of madness”, Taslimuddin wondered why his appreciation of Modi for being a benefactor of his region was such a bad thing when the ‘grand alliance’ government in Bihar had no qualms about going to the PM for money.

“Narendra Modi is not just PM. He is also leader of the Lok Sabha. So what if he from the BJP? So long as he does good work, I’ll praise him. Modi always has time to meet me, whereas (chief minister) Nitish Kumar does not have time for me”, he argued.