Muslims key to Bihar’s growth: SuMo

PATNA: Former deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday allayed fears of minority community saying there will be no discrimination against Muslims if BJP-led NDA comes to power in the state. “The state cannot develop without taking along its 16% Muslim population. Since independence, the community has only been seen as a vote bank,” Modi said in reply to a query on a social networking site on Tuesday.
Over 2,000 questions were posted on Modi’s Facebook and Twitter profiles during the one-hour live chat from 5-6pm on Tuesday. Replying to another query on BJP’s poll planks, Modi said, “BJP is fighting the election on the issue of development and will not digress from that even though Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad are trying to divert people from real issues by raking up reservation, DNA and other matters.”
Modi, who is a frontrunner for NDA’s CM face post polls, said he was confident of a two-thirds victory for the NDA after the conclusion of first two phases in Bihar. “People want a government that will work in close cooperation with the Centre. Our alliance will win around 185 seats this election,” he said.
“Industrialisation, development of IT sector, technical education, skill development and facilitation of loans for setting up enterprises are some of the ways for increasing employment opportunities in Bihar,” Modi said.