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Gaurav Bhatia, BJP national spokesperson. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The BJP on Saturday (November 16, 2024) alleged that some Muslim bodies are trying to vitiate the poll atmosphere in Maharashtra and Jharkhand by appealing to their community members to vote for the I.N.D.I.A bloc on the lines of religion, and urged the Election Commission and the Supreme Court to take action in the matter.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, party national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said All India Muslim Personal Law Board’s functionary Maulana Sajjad Nomani has said that the outfit has decided to support Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on 269 seats and other non-BJP parties on a few seats in Maharashtra Assembly polls.
He said that Nomani has appealed to the Muslims to vote for the MVA, saying the outcome of the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections will have an impact not only on the future of the state but also on the future of the entire country.
Earlier the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind’s Lohardaga unit appealed to the Muslims to vote en bloc for the Congress-JMM-RJD-CPI (ML) Liberation combine in Jharkhand, Mr. Bhatia claimed.
“This is called vote jihad,” he said, adding, “This is the height of appeasement politics” by the MVA in Maharashtra and Congress-JMM in Jharkhand.
Mr. Bhatia said that an appeal for votes made on the basis of religion amounts to corrupt practices.
“It can not be tolerated in a democracy like ours where elections have to be as pure as Mother Ganges. It’s a very worrisome trend that we have seen that for the lust of power, the Congress, Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray are ready to appease, adopt infiltrators and say ‘I love you’ to illegal immigrants,” he said.
He said illegal immigrants can be a threat to national security but it doesn’t matter to the INDIA bloc parties.
Mr. Bhatia said when Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a “positive slogan” for national unity, saying “ek rahoge toh, safe rahoge”, the I,N.D.I.A bloc raised objections even though “a wise person, even a child would say this is the mool mantra for the progress of the country”.
“When Ulema, All India Muslim Personal Law Board and other [Muslim] outfits come out in the open and appeal to all Muslims to come together, it’s our appeal to the Election Commission and the Supreme Court to ensure that no political party vitiates the elections. Take cognisance of the matter and take strict action against them,” the BJP spokesperson added.
Published – November 16, 2024 04:15 pm IST
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