Controversy Erupts After Salman Khurshid's Niece Call For 'Vote Jihad', Case Filed: All About It

A case has been registered against senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid and his niece Maria Alam Khan, a Samajwadi Party leader, over over an appeal she made at a public meeting on Monday for "vote jihad" in supporting of INDI Alliance's candidate for the UP's Farrukhabad Lok Sabha seat.

The meeting, attended by Khurshid and his wife Louise Khurshid, was called for Naval Kishore Shakya, the INDI Alliance nominee and an SP leader.

Farrukhabad Superintendent of Police (SP) Vikas Kumar said that Maria violated the Model Code of Conduct by trying to seek votes on the basis of religion.

The FIR, lodged at the Kaiyamganj police station in Farrukhabad, has been filed under Sections 295-A and 188 of the Indian Penal Code, as well as Section 125 of the Representation of People’s Act.

During her speech, Khan, the Samajwadi Party vice-president for Farrukhabad, allegedly urged attendees to discreetly use "vote jihad" to change the current government.

This speech was captured on a widely circulated video, where she expressed concerns about community division and government actions threatening their identity.

The Samajwadi Party is contesting the Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the Congress. Maria, the daughter of late former MLA Izhar Alam Khan, is vice-president of SP’s Farrukhabad district unit.

She urged those present at the meeting to practice “vote jihad” discreetly and intelligently, stating that they can remove the party in power from government only by doing this.

In a video doing rounds on social media, Maria is purportedly heard saying “Apni haisiyat aur apni aukat insaan ko sabse pehley samajhna chahiye. (Kyon) ki hum sirf ab jitaney aur haraney key rehgaye. Agar ab bhi hum ek nahi hue to yeh samajh lena yahan sey hamara namon naksh mitaney key liye yeh Sanghi sarkar jo koshish kar rahi hai usko tum kamyab karney ka kaam karogey. Uskey mansubo ko kamyab karney ka kaam karogey. Isliye bahut akalmandi ke saath bahut jaldbaazi main na hokey bahut khamoshi key saath ek saath hokey vote ka jihad karo. Kyonki hum sirf voton ka jihad kar saktey hai aur is Sanghi sarkar ko haraney ka kaam kar saktey hai (First, one must understand their position because we are only left with helping in a victory or a defeat. If we don’t unite now, our identity will be erased, which the Sanghi (derogatory reference for BJP) government is attempting to do. You will end up help them win. Now only do jihad through votes and working towards defeating this Sanghi government).”, Indian Express reported.

“I felt ashamed to hear that some Muslims organised a meeting here for Mukesh Rajput (BJP’s). I feel the society should boycott them. Don’t become so selfish and play with lives of our children,” she added.

Rupesh Gupta, BJP's district president, criticized the speech, suggesting it reflected negatively on the Congress and the Samajwadi Party and comparing the rhetoric to that of Pakistan.

The BJP plans to escalate the matter to the Election Commission.

Maria Alam defended her choice of words, claiming that "jihad" in her speech meant to struggle and was aimed at encouraging electoral participation.

She claimed that her intent was purely to motivate democratic engagement without offending anyone.

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