M Abdul Salam, the BJP’s only Muslim contender on the first list of Lok Sabha candidates for Kerala’s Mallapuram constituency has revealed that he wants to work for the development of the minority community under the leadership of PM Modi. He also said that he wants all the Muslims to realize that they have been living in the darkness and that PM Modi is the only light who is going to get them out of this darkness.
“My primary task is to shine the light of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the dark minds of Muslim minorities. I want to make them realise that they have been living in the darkness created around them. PM Modi has spent a large amount of time and money for the development of Muslims and Christians,” Salam was quoted as saying by News18.
Salam, the previous vice-chancellor of Calicut University (CU), is running for a second term on a BJP ticket. His electoral debut came in 2021 when he contested as a BJP candidate from Tirur in Mallapuram during the Kerala assembly elections. He took third place with 9,097 votes. Salam had been a professor and the director of the agronomy department at the Kerala Agricultural University before taking on the role of vice-chancellor of Calicut University.
He plans to contest from Mallapuram, a communally dangerous district that has seen violence over the last several decades as a result of confrontations between Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) followers and the now-banned terror outfit Popular Front of India.
Salam believes that residents in the region have been misled for years and have been living in darkness, with many living in ‘created darkness.’ “The Muslims have a strict religious network in the area and they are guided by the madrasas. They are living in a different time. I aim to go with a powerful lamp and shine the light of Modi and development in their minds and hearts,” he said.
Salam believes that as the only Muslim candidate so far, he must represent minorities. “Minorities are the safest in India. Indian Muslims have the safest haven in India, overtaking the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They have complete freedom to do whatever they choose. They can express themselves, expand their religion, and enjoy democratic freedom,” he said, accusing the Opposition’s INDI Alliance of spreading incorrect information against the country and PM Modi.
Salam went on to say that the INDI Alliance had been restricted from “looting public money” because they had not been in power for ten years when Modi was in office. “They are unable to resist their hunger to grab public money, so they are planning this propaganda against the BJP and Muslims,” he added.
When asked what the BJP’s focus would be in Kerala, the former VC stated that there is a strong Modi phenomenon and an undercurrent in favour of the party. Salam stated that Modi’s revolution in terms of poverty eradication, industrialization, education, tourism, and environmental protection is gaining popularity.
Kerala has seen a significant surge in corruption, lawlessness, and terrorist activities, which the BJP can put an end to, he claimed. “Modi is contesting all Lok Sabha seats in the country. I would go a step further and say that those running are merely representatives, and the votes they receive are simply a result of people’s affection for Modi,” he remarked.
Regarding his chances in the election, Salam stated that his motto would be the “Modi mantra, Modi model of governance and development, and Modi’s model of Muslim inclusivity.”
