Muslim women will bless me for removing sword of triple talaq: PM Modi

In an effort to reach out to the Muslim community in western Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (April 6) said Muslim women will bless him for centuries to come as he has removed the "sword" of triple talaq hanging over them and their families.

Addressing an election rally in Saharanpur, Modi reached out to the Muslim community, which has a sizeable population in the Lok Sabha constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh, saying real secularism is when all get the benefit of government welfare schemes irrespective of their caste and religion as has been seen during the BJP rule.

Saved entire Muslim families

"The BJP government has ended the evil practice of (instant) triple talaq. We enacted a strong law in the interest of crores of Muslim sisters and protected their families, he said.

Some are saying Muslim women have benefitted but "they do not have a complete understanding. It is not that only Muslim women have benefitted" but also their parents and brothers who were always worried as to what would they do if their daughter or sister had to go through triple talaq, Modi said.

"By ending this practice of triple talaq, we have saved the entire Muslim family and liberated it from the fear of the sword hanging over them. For centuries to come, Muslim daughters will continue to bless Modi," the prime minister said.

Muslims matter in West UP

The Lok Sabha constituencies in western UP with a sizeable Muslim population are Rampur (42 per cent), Amroha (32 per cent), Saharanpur (30 per cent), Bijnor, Nagina and Moradabad (28 per cent each), Muzaffarnagar (27 per cent), Kairana and Meerut (23 per cent each) and Sambhal (22 per cent).

Apart from this, the Muslim voters constitute 19 per cent of the electoral population in Bulandshahr, Baghpat and Aligarh.

Around 15.34 crore people are eligible to vote in Uttar Pradesh – a politically crucial state with 80 Lok Sabha seats where the elections will be held in seven phases beginning April 19.

According to the election schedule, eight parliamentary constituencies will vote in the first phase on April 19. These are Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Nagina (SC), Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit.

In the 2019 general elections, the BJP won 62 seats and its ally Apna Dal (S) two seats, brushing aside the challenge of the SP-BSP-RLD alliance.

The BSP was the biggest gainer in the alliance with 10 seats. Akhilesh Yadav's SP won five seats while the RLD couldn't open its account in the polls. The Congress won the lone Raebareli seat from where Sonia Gandhi had contested.

This time RLD has joined hands with the BJP while BSP is going it alone.