Narendra Modi

New Delhi, June 24: The BJP plans to bring out a “vision document” exclusively for Muslims and other minorities, but the party’s first such dossier may “avoid looking at the Gujarat riots with a straight eye”.

The document, expected in August, will outline the party’s stand on issues related to the communities. But on the 2002 violence, the BJP leadership is clear there will be no mea culpa moment for it or Narendra Modi. “Modi has steadfastly refused to express regret, let alone apologise,” a party source said.

Instead, the paper will take a swipe at rivals with a comparison on the number of recent riots under Congress and non-BJP governments, notably in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

“The idea of the exercise is to tell Muslims and the (other) minorities that the BJP is not to be dreaded or shunned as a section of the media has made it to be. We will assure them that if we come to power, their socio-economic and political lives will not be wrecked. We want to minimise the chance of vote polarisation,” said Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who heads a five-member panel working on the document.

The committee’s formation coincided with the BJP-RSS brass’s decision — yet to be made official — to position Modi as the commander-in-chief, their face for the 2014 polls.

Sources said the BJP was aware Modi could split voters along religious lines, a prospect that could help the Congress more, and therefore decided to think of a counter-move “fast”.

Goa chief minister and senior party leader Manohar Parrikar had proffered another line of argument by saying during a TV interview recently that while the post-Godhra occurrences were a “clear-cut” case of “administrative failure” and “bad example of governance”, Modi couldn’t be held culpable.

But his contention was rejected by Delhi leaders. “Modi’s campaign is centred on good governance and ability to deliver. If we accept 2002 as an example of bad governance, that will straightaway dilute his campaign. Our idea is to show that because Modi was on the top of his job, he could control the riots in record time,” the source said.

BJP president Rajnath Singh last week urged Muslims to “forget or ignore” 2002. He was speaking at a seminar in Jaipur on the “challenges before minorities”. “Incidents have been happening and 13,000 riots took place before 2002,” said Rajnath.

Delhi BJP chief Vijay Goel said at a convention organised by a minority forum yesterday that while the Gujarat government pursued efforts to “punish the guilty”, the Congress did “nothing” to penalise those involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Sources said that for the moment, the BJP’s “message” to minorities would focus on the need for their “political mainstreaming” instead of allowing parties like the Congress to “prey on insecurities”.

A request to accept BJP tickets for “winnable” seats is also on the cards. To reinforce the point, the BJP will make a presentation on Modi’s record to over 200 Muslims elected to urban civic bodies and panchayats in Gujarat.