DEHRADUN: Looking to break away from its anti-minority image and woo Muslim voters, the BJP has launched a massive drive to induct about 3.5 lakh new party workers from the community into its state unit before the Lok Sabha polls Around 5,000 Muslims will need to join the BJP in every Assembly segment in Uttarakhand if the BJP is to achieve its target."By having 5,000 new party workers from every Assembly constituency, which is our target, we will confirm around 70,000 votes in every Lok Sabha constituency," former state BJP spokesperson Shadab Shams told TOI on Tuesday.The BJP has started holding 'Alpsankhyak Sammelans' (minority gatherings) in Muslim-dominated pockets in the state, particularly in Haridwar constituency, and some known Muslim faces have joined the party.When asked if the drive was in line with the BJP asking several prominent Muslim faces in the country to join and endorse the party and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi , state BJP president Teerth Singh Rawat said, "Just like other Indians, Muslims in India also rate growth, development and safe living conditions much higher than politics of religion practiced by some pseudo-secular parties. After being duped by the Congress for more than 50 years, the Muslims have realized that India's future is only in BJP and Narendra Modi now."Taking a dig at chief minister Harish Rawat for donning a skull cap when among Muslim voters, Teerth said the BJP did not believe in such "show-off" and "superficial" kind of secularism which the Congress party practices for vote-bank politics."For BJP, loyalty of an Indian towards his motherland is more important than his or her religion. Anybody who believes in the BJP ideology and trusts the party can join it anytime. Many of our Muslim brothers and sisters are also willing to join us now and we are welcoming them with open arms," he said.Shams said former Congressman Mohammed Yaqoob and an independent candidate in the municipal corporation elections last year, Mohammad Arif have joined the BJP as new party workers on Monday. "Apart from this, an independent candidate and a ward member in Dharampur, Zahida Begum and her husband Abdul Kayyum have also come out in support of BJP. Few more well-known Muslim faces will be joining the party in Uttarakhand soon," he said.Muslims constitute more than 17 per cent of the total population of Uttarakhand and are traditionally considered to be the Congress vote bank. The BSP also hass got a strong vote bank in the Muslims and other OBCs communities in the state.