State Assembly results rejection of communal polarisation: JIH

New Delhi : Prominent Muslim body Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) on Wednesday said that the results of latest state Assembly elections, in which the BJP has been dethroned in three states, show that people have rejected communal politics.

It said the ruling party should "pay heed to the people's mandate" and desist from seeking electoral benefits "by demonising minorities and suppressing the marginalised sections" of society.

"The results are a setback to the communal politics. The ruling party tried its level best to polarise the electorate using communal issues but they were flatly rejected by the people of this country who are more concerned about their day-to-day issues of poverty, unemployment, education and health," JIH Secretary General Muhammad Salim Engineer said.

He added that the people must continue to "reject those who peddle hate" and vote astutely in the parliamentary elections next year.

However, Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat President Naved Hamid viewed the results differently.

"I don't think the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s communal politics has lost traction. Though issues like agrarian crisis, unemployment and demonetisation played the major role in the BJP's defeat, the party is not likely to abandon its Hindutva agenda," Hamid said.

"Neither do I believe that these results would have any bearing on 2019 Lok Sabha polls," he added, also giving credit to the Congress party's election strategy.

In the Assembly polls in five state whose results were announced early on Wednesday, the Congress defeated the BJP in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh -- the cow belt states.