12, Feb 2016

Dalip Singh NEW DELHI, Feb 12, 2016, DHNS:
Differences in the NDA have cropped up over the government’s handling of minority issues, with two coalition partners separately expressing their reservations on attempts to strip Aligarh Muslim University of its minority status and character assassination of Rohith Vemula by BJP leaders, respectively.

During the NDA meeting held recently, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) questioned the Modi government’s stand before the Supreme Court that Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) cannot enjoy minority status on the grounds that it was against the Constitution.
The party representing Dalits, also argued that it was providing fodder to Opposition to create an impression that the NDA was anti-Muslim, senior LJP sources said.

After hearing the ally’s caveat on AMU, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu is said to have told the LJP representative that he would call a separate meeting on the issue raised by them. BJP president Amit Shah and senior Union ministers were present during the NDA meeting. The BJP, however, believes that AMU cannot enjoy minority status since it was born out of a Parliament Act.