The Uttar Pradesh unit of Bharatiya Janata Party has filed a complaint with Election Commission against Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati for giving a call to Muslims not to vote for a particular party, which it said was violation of the spirit of free and fair election.
“Mayawati’s statement asking Muslims not to vote for a particular party reflects an attempt to incite communal strife. This will hamper conduct of free and fair polls,” BJP vice-president JPS Rathore said in his complaint to the Election Commissioner on Sunday.
While addressing an election rally in Deoband in Saharanpur, Mayawati said that Muslims should not get swayed by the gullible words of some political parties.
She did not name the party but said: “I also appeal to Muslims to vote for alliance candidate because we are true saviours of minority community.”
The rally was jointly addressed by Mayawati, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Lok Dal president Ajit Singh.
Rathore said that this statement was a violation of the code of conduct.
“The BJP demands that the Election Commission take action against Mayawati so that such incidents are not repeated in future,” he said.
Meanwhile, in the Deoband rally, Akhilesh Yadav had called BJP and Congress as the two faces of the same coin and appealed to voters to not vote for these parties.