The BJP increased its vote share among the Muslims in the Lok Sabha election this year, party spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said here Sunday.Z"According to our reports, the BJP received 14-15 percent of Muslim votes in the Lok Sabha election," Naqvi said after a meeting held to review the Bharatiya Janata Party's performance in garnering Muslim votes.Muslims constitute 13 percent of the total population of India, according to the 2001 census.Mohammad Afzal, national convener of the Muslim Rashtriya Manch, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-backed organisation, said the BJP earlier got "two to three percent" of Muslim votes in previous elections.
Naqvi said around 20,000 Muslim volunteers and 10,000 Hindu volunteers worked in areas inhabited by Muslims to "remove misconceptions" about the RSS and the BJP's policy towards Muslims.Indresh Kumar, who heads the Muslim Rashtriya Manch, and senior BJP leader Nazma Heptullah were also present at the meeting attended by BJP Minority Morcha leaders.