BJP on Thursday approached the Election Commission over Sonia Gandhi’s meeting with Jama Masjid Shahi Imam to seek his help in ensuring that the community’s votes did not get split. The party said that the step was a violation of the model code and demanded stern action. BJP also alleged that such a meeting was aimed at polarising elections and could lead to communal flare-up.
Anil Soni, convener of Delhi BJP’s legal cell on Thursday wrote a letter to the Election Commission of India and Electoral Office of Delhi to closely monitor all prominent Masjids of Delhi, after the Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Imam of Jama Masjid met Congress president Sonia Gandhi under controversial circumstances.
Soni asserted that appeal was based on the section of ‘corrupt practice’ as per Section 123 of Representation of People Act, 1951. Anil Soni in a separate communication to the commissioner of police has requested him to defer the upgradation of emergency number 100 in Delhi.
‘Campaigning for Lok Sabha elections in Delhi are going on and elections are to be held on 10 April. Delhi is going through a very sensitive and crucial stage of election’, said Soni.
‘We are confident that the Election Commission will take serious note of these developments and initiate preventive steps such that their efforts, as always, to conduct free and fair elections are not frustrated by determined spoilers who are aiming at communal conflagration,’ BJP said in a memorandum to the Commission.
BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and convener of election cell R Ramakrishna said as per para 1 of the Model Code of Conduct, ‘There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes. Mosques, churches, Temples or other places of worship shall not be used as forums for election propaganda.’
BJP said, ‘These developments are potent with ugly possibilities. Already the abusive and derogatory language used by various political parties is fouling up the atmosphere such as ‘Zahr ki Kheti’ (Sonia Gandhi) ‘Boti-Boti Katna’ (Imran Masood) ‘Aag Lag Jayegi’ (Yogendra Yadav of the Congress surrogate party called the AAP).
‘This crescendo of language culminating in the coming together of the community such that ‘Secular’ (!) votes are not split amounts to nothing but communal polarisation, notwithstanding the reported loud denial by Sonia Gandhi.’
The CEC had earlier said that the EC will take cognisance of any complaint in this regard, but it had not got a complaint. BJP, on its part, sought the EC’s suo motu intervention as the remarks were in public domain.
BJP said in one of the recent meetings with EC (on the hate speech by Imran Masood in Saharanpur), the party leaders had apprised the Commission on how Congress was ‘desperately’ trying to divert BJP from its development-oriented agenda to one of polarised communalism.
‘Congress party which boasts of its role as a messiah of secularism is of late turning totally communal and making desperate attempts to throw a red herring and drag the BJP into a messy dialogue on religion driven electoral politics,’ it said.
‘It is anticipated that the Imam will give his call after the Friday prayers on April 4. Keeping this eventuality in mind, we are approaching the Election Commission, before the event, rather than after the event.
‘The likely intervention by the Shahi Imam will be nothing but communal polarisation for benefiting a party. Such an event will squarely attract the provisions of various penal acts,’ it said.
The opposition party also alleged the latest attempt in their mission is the reported long meeting between the Congress President and Jama Masjid Shahi Imam, Syed Ahmed Bukhari.
Naqvi said the reported meeting was not just a courtesy call by the Imam, as on February 22 about 350 delegates reportedly met at Jama Masjid to discuss which party the community should support and this was followed by a reported constitution of a 11-member fact-finding committee to take a call on performance, attitude of various parties towards Muslims.
This committee, he alleged, toured around the country, met various political parties and submitted a report on March 31, after which Congress leader Rajiv Shukla called on the Imam and extended an invitation and the Imam’s meeting with Congress President took place on April 1.