PM party vows to strip Indian Muslim immigrants of vote

Hindu nationalist party has pledged to strip millions of Muslim immigrants of vote in the upcoming provincial elections

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party has pledged to strip millions of Muslim immigrants of vote in the upcoming provincial elections in the eastern state of Assam.

In a series of recent campaign rallies in the remote state of Assam, officials of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promised that the party would try to bar Muslims of Bangladeshi origin from voting, which is scheduled to be held in April.

Meanwhile, HimantaBiswaSarma, the BJP’s campaign manager in Assam, has stressed that the plan would include those Muslims who entered India from neighboring Bangladesh between 1951 and 1971. He also said they can stay but would have to re-apply for citizenship.

There are about two million immigrants (who came before 1971) and their descendants in the country.