Kerala Story, CAA will affect vote share: BJP's lone Muslim candidate
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Malappuram: BJP's lone Muslim candidate, M Abdul Salam, who is contesting in Kerala's Malappuram, said that screening of the propaganda movie "The Kerala Story" and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) are going to affect his vote share, The News Minute reported.
He said that the Sudipto Sen directorial controversial film will distance Muslims from the BJP in Kerala, particularly when general elections are around. He pointed out that the majority of voters in his constituency are Muslims.
He told TNM that he had been allotted to a district where 70 per cent of the population is Muslim, and BJP had only a 5 per cent vote share in the last election. It is only imaginable the hate the propaganda movie could generate, he said, adding that as a Muslim candidate from Malappuram, he feels an aggravated hostility from his community.
On the issue of CAA, he said that the Centre has created a lot of "confusion" and fury among the Muslim community, not explaining clearly what the law is intended for. He claimed that it doesn't force people to exile but admits eligible people. He claimed that the confusion was fuelled by the Opposition.
Controversial 'The Kerala Story' misrepresented the Muslims and the state of Kerala even from its announcement. In its teaser, it claimed that 32,000 Kerala women were radicalised, trafficked and deployed on foreign lands on terrorist missions. Though they changed the claim when the movie was released, the film was marred with many problematic claims. Recently, the national broadcaster Doordarshan chose to telecast it, and multiple dioceses in Kerala screened the film in churches for catechism students. Several politicians, including the Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, and leader of Opposition VD Satheesan, criticised the film and its screening.
Abdul Salam said that the opinions were personal and not those of his party. He doesn't want to be labelled as an enemy of Muslims in a constituency where 70 per cent are from the Muslim community.