New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of communalising the Delhi Assembly polls after Jama Masjid's Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari's appeal to Muslims to vote for the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.
Although the AAP was quick to dismiss Bukhari's help its detractors claimed that the party had first approached the Shahi Imam for his support.
BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain condemned the AAP, and said, "AAP is trying to divide Delhi communally."
Attacking AAP for "seeking" the support and then rejecting it, Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman accused the party of doing communal politics and said it stood exposed for attempting to polarise votes ahead of Delhi elections.
"Aam Aadmi Party stands exposed for doing communal politics. They are completely rattled and that is why they are attempting to polarise votes on communal lines," Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
"We didn't ask for a fatwa, seems to be going on predictable lines. Delhi has seen this pattern," Sitharaman added.
"In this election, AAP has adopted every dirty trick to capture power in Delhi. They have given tickets to people who are associated with terrorists and anti-national forces," she said, citing examples of Amanatullah Khan contesting from Okhla who has openly supported Zia-ur-Rehman, an accused in Delhi and Ahmedabad bomb blasts.
Asked about the 'fatwa', Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, "Such fatwas have been issued earlier too. Such a fatwa was also issued in Gujarat too in the past. Those who are against such fatwas should come out to vote 100 per cent."
BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said "this is an insult to the majority population who believe in the unity and integrity of the country and support the politics of good governance and development. They will reject such politics."
Party spokesperson M J Akbar said, "AAP has shrunk to extraordinary depths. It is using both alcohol and fatwa. But they don't realise that the Delhi and Indian voter is not communal. Any appeal on communal lines becomes counter-productive."
Jama Masjid's Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari had today appealed to Muslims to vote for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi Assembly Elections which are scheduled to be held on Saturday.
The AAP quickly said it had nothing to do with the Imam's call for support, as senior party leader Sanjay Signh said, "AAP doesn't support the ideology of Imam Bukhari, we dont need their support."
"Imam Bukhari has supported different parties at different times. He invited PM of Pak and not Indian PM for his son's dastarbandi," he told ANI.
(With Agency Inputs)
