‘AAP Using Polarising Rhetoric In Minority Areas’: Delhi BJP Asks EC To Appoint Special Observers At Mosques

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi has demanded Election Commission of India (ECI) to appoint special observers at mosques in order to check polarisation of voters on religious lines, reports India Today.

BJP Delhi accused Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of making religiously charged speeches in Muslim minority dominated areas.

"We are bound to write you this complaint due to recent repeated attempts to polarise voters on religious lines by the convener of the AAP, Arvind Kejriwal, and his party members," alleged Delhi BJP's legal department convener Neeraj in the letter written to ECI.

The complaint alleged that Kejriwal, targeting minorities, was asking people to beware of vote split between the AAP and the Congress. Such a split could benefit BJP. The AAP chief allegedly exhorted people to vote for his party to defeat the BJP in Lok Sabha polls. A video has also surfaced where Kejriwal and another AAP leader are seen asking Muslims to not ‘waste’ their votes on Congress and instead provide AAP with the 12 per cent Muslim vote in Delhi to defeat BJP.

"He has been giving baseless statements to polarise the voters in Muslim dominated areas," Neeraj said, adding that ECI should appoint special observers to prevent political and religious leaders spreading “hate" to influence elections.

Previously, AAP leader Ashutosh courted controversy when he wrote an article in which he asked Muslims to hide their religious symbols as a “strategy to defeat the enemy”. He claimed “visible” participation of Muslims in large numbers in a roadshow” in Varanasi became the cause for defeat of Arvind Kejriwal in 2014 Lok Sabha.

Referring to BJP-RSS as ‘the enemy’ in an article addressed to the minority community, Ashutosh said, “The choice is with us, the liberals: Do we want our enemy to win or lose? The country and the minorities cannot afford their victory. Let’s not get emotional, let’s be strategic, let’s fight to win, not to lose.”

Previously, Kerala chief election commissioner Teeka Ram Meena had declared that invoking Sabarimala during political campaigning would be considered a violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The comment was criticised as not only scuttling freedom of expression, but also anti-democratic as it restricted people from raising an issue which saw massive protests and police brutality last year.