Araria (Bihar) [India], April 26 : Ahead of the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Shahnawaz Hussain said some castes from the Muslim community were intentionally included in the backward community under the reservation system allotted under the Mandal Commission.
"In the reservation system given under the Mandal Commission, some people intentionally included some castes from the Muslim community in the backward classes calling them Pasmandas, which deprived other castes of their rights," Hussain said speaking to ANI on Friday.
Slamming the Congress for practising vote bank politics, Hussain said, "PM Modi's schemes are for the poor regardless of their religion. But the Congress does not want to serve the poor but practices vote bank politics. This is what PM Modi said categorically."
Hitting out at the Congress for its alleged intention to redistribute wealth, the BJP MLA said, "Manmohan Singh has said that Muslims have the first right to the country's resources. If you impose an inheritance tax on someone's property and seize 55 per cent of his property and distribute it, whom are you going to distribute this wealth? PM Modi said that all schemes are for poor, irrespective of his caste or religion."
Responding to a question by the reporter whether the Muslim population in the Seemanchal region of Bihar will be voting for the BJP, Hussain said, "Seemanchal's poor, backwards are with PM Modi. In Seemanchal some people ask for votes giving instigating slogans. However, PM Modi asks for votes after working for people."
On Supreme Court rejecting all petitions seeking 100 per cent verification of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) votes with their Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips, Hussain said, "There was a conspiracy in the Supreme Court which was rejected today."
The BJP has fielded its sitting MP Pradeep Kumar Singh from Araria Lok Sabha constituency. Singh has been pitted against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Mohammed Shahnawaz Alam.
"Even in this heat, waves of people have gathered here. We will win with an even bigger margin than the last time," Singh said speaking to ANI on Friday.

Responding to a question on whether he will be able to get votes from the Muslim community, Singh said, "People irrespective of whether they are poor or rich will vote for development. People have understood that they should think beyond castes and vote for development."
On the challenges ahead of him ahead of the polls, the BJP candidate said, "There is no challenge. People vote for candidates and make them win. People will decide. They are ready to make Narendra Modi Prime Minister again...Based on the work we have done we will cross more than 400 seats and win all 40 seats in Bihar."
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Singh defeated RJD's Sarfaraz Alam with a margin of 1,37,241 votes from Araria.
In Bihar, the BJP won 17 seats, the Janata Dal-United won 16, the Lok Janshakti Party won six and the Congress won one seat in 2019.