Mayawati, the president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), attacked the BJP harshly on Wednesday, saying it was exploiting the ‘Saugat-e-Modi’ campaign to further its political agenda while seeming to be reaching out to minority groups.

The BJP’s plan to provide minority families with special packages and greetings from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for religious holidays including Eid, Baisakhi, Good Friday, and Easter drew criticism from Mayawati in a post on X on Wednesday.

“during the basis of their political interest alone, the BJP announced that 32 lakh impoverished minority households will get the Prime Minister’s ‘love message and gift’ in the shape of ‘Saugat-e-Modi’ during Eid, Baisakhi, Good Friday, and Easter. What good would such presents do when Bahujan Samaj and Muslims are living in constant terror for their lives, property, and faith? The post was written by Mayawati.

She also made the case that the government need to address socioeconomic backwardness, unemployment, and poverty in minority populations rather than relying only on token gestures.

“It would have been preferable if the BJP’s Central and State governments had taken significant action to reduce the poverty, unemployment, and backwardness of a small number of impoverished Muslim and other religious minority families rather than giving them the ‘Gift of Modi’. In another tweet, she said, “It’s also very important to pay proper attention to their security.”

Tuesday saw the inauguration of the BJP’s ‘Saugat-e-Modi’ campaign, which is aimed at underprivileged Muslim groups. Prior to Eid, 32 lakh impoverished Muslims across will get special kits as part of the campaign.

32,000 BJP employees have been sent in to help with this, with each mosque being served by a different staff member. Before the Eid, BJP employees will distribute the presents to 32,000 mosques throughout the country as part of the program.

Leading the campaign and organizing the ‘Saugat-e-Modi’ kit distribution is the BJP’s Minority Morcha.

The project is seen as a component of the party’s larger plan to interact with and gain the support of minority communities’ marginalized groups.