Tariq Anwar slams Sidhu for Muslim remark

Veteran Parliamentarian and Congress candidate from Katihar Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar, Tariq Anwar, on Wednesday slammed his party colleague and Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu for his controversial remarks on minorities.

Sidhu, while addressing an election rally in Katihar in favour of Tariq on Tuesday had said that if the Muslim electorate, which constitutes 64 per cent of the population in that constituency, voted en bloc, “Modi would be hit for six.”

“Remain united. Don’t allow minorities, who are in majority here, to split their votes. ‘Aisa chakka maro, ki Modi boundary se bahar ho jaye (Hit Modi for such a huge six, that he goes out of the boundary),” the cricketer-turned-politician Sidhu said shortly before the campaigning ended on Tuesday for April 18 election.

On Wednesday, Tariq Anwar, who was a Union Minister in UPA Government, disapproved of such remarks. “Had I been on the dais, I would have stopped Sidhu from using such divisive language. The Congress party takes along everyone together and never discriminates between Hindus and Muslims. Throughout my four decades of a political career, I have never used religious sentiments for electioneering. I would rather prefer to lose than doing politics in the name of religion,” a miffed Tariq said.