A day after Salman Khurshid's niece and Samajwadi Party leader Maria Alam Khan landed into legal trouble for seeking votes on "religious lines" during an election rally in Kayamganj, Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya said that India stands against any sort of jihad, be it love, land, or the newly coined "vote jihad".
The deputy CM further said that SP, BSP, and Congress are frustrated as people are voting for BJP, adding that the mindset of "vote jihad" is precarious. Maurya also demanded that strict action should be taken against whoever is found guilty after a full-fledged investigation.
"I stand strongly in criticism against it; it cannot be accepted either by state or country," he added.
Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami also said, "The word like 'jihad' must have used by them; For a 'Viksit Bharat' we are requesting people to vote for BJP and Narendra Modi to make him 'Prime Minister' again..."
An FIR under sections 188 and 295 (A) of the Indian Penal Code has been lodged against Maria Alam Khan for seeking votes on religious grounds.
Commenting on the case against Congress leader Salman Khurshid's niece, Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak said: "It is sad, we condemn it. Making such an appeal is anti-constitutional and in any case, we will complain about it to the Election Commission of Uttar Pradesh and strict action should be taken in this."
"Vote Jihad" Controversy Surrounding Salman Khurshid's Niece
Maria Alam Khan, while addressing a public rally in Kayamganj on Tuesday urged the minority community to do vote jihad, thereby violating the Model Code of Conduct, which is in place due to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
In the video of the Samajwadi leader Khan addressing the rally, she can be heard asking the people to "think carefully and without being emotional and do vote jihad...we can do only vote jihad to kick out the current government...Don't be mean and play with the lives of our children..."
"If you want to save India, humanity, and Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb, you must go out and vote in large numbers...only this can save us," she said.
Farrukhabad DM VK Singh spoke on the case registered against her and said: "Yesterday, Salman Khurshid and SP leader Maria Alam Khan were addressing a public rally in Kayamganj, during which Maria Alam Khan asked the minority community to go for vote jihad. Prima facie, she tried to increase the gap between the two communities.This is a violation of sections 188, 295, and section 125 of the RP Act."
SP Vikas Kumar also said that since she is seeking votes on religious grounds, she is violating MCC and a written report regarding the incident was submitted at PS Kamamganj. The investigation will proceed accordingly, he said.