VHP slams NDA for Najma?s V-P candidature

In a thinly veiled attack on the BJP for choosing Najma Heptullah, a Muslim, as the NDA?s vice-presidential candidate, the VHP said that the party had fallen into a trap created by UPA and UNPA, which have fielded Hamid Ansari and Rashid Masood respectively.

Written by Political Bureau

July 25, 2007 00:00 IST

In a thinly veiled attack on the BJP for choosing Najma Heptullah, a Muslim, as the NDA?s vice-presidential candidate, the VHP on Tuesday said that the party had fallen into a trap created by UPA and UNPA, which have fielded Hamid Ansari and Rashid Masood respectively.

Criticising the Andhra Pradesh government?s move to provide 4% reservation for Muslims in government jobs and educational institutions, VHP leader Pravin Togadiya said, ?The Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh government is doing it overtly by passing a Bill in the state Assembly.?

?But what the three national political formations (UPA-Left, NDA and UNPA) have done in case of selecting their respective vice-presidential candidates, it seems, they have covertly reserved the post for a Muslim. It?s bad for the country, as it defies pluralistic ethos,? he said.

This article was first uploaded on July twenty-five, twenty seven, at zero minutes past twelve in the am.