Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from UP Suresh Rana clarified on Monday (January 30) after making a controversial statement that there would be "curfew in Kairana, Deoband and Moradabad" if he came to power after the Assembly elections beginning February. In his clarification, he said hooligans, because of whom there was exodus of Hindus, will be exiting these areas if he comes to power.
He also said that people were migrating from western Uttar Pradesh due to fear of hooligans and extortion.
"There is no village or town where migration did not take place due to these reasons. So, I meant to say that if the BJP comes to power in UP then these goons, extortionists will migrate and not the innocents," Rana told ANI.
A video from Saturday (January 28) showed Rana addressing a meeting in Shamli's Thana Bhawan, where he said that if he wins in the Muslim-dominated areas of Uttar Pradesh, curfew would be imposed. "If I win, curfew will be imposed in Kairana, Deoband and Moradabad," he said. "March 11 will be the date and a procession will move from Shamli to Thana Bhawan with slogans of Bharat Mata ki Jai," he said.
He further added that his defeat would be celebrated in Deoband and Moradabad.
"I have not made any remark against any religion. I have only said that if I win and the BJP comes to power in the state, then those hooligans who had forced other people to migrate from Kairana, Deoband and Moradabad and other areas, will themselves have to migrate from these areas," he said in his clarification.
Thana Bhawan will go to polls in the first phase of UP elections, which begins on February 11. Results are set to be announced on March 11.
The BJP in its manifesto, which was released on Saturday, said it would set up a department in every district to prevent "exodus" due to communal tension. According to BJP MP Hukum Singh and other senior BJP leaders, many Hindus left Kairana last year.
