Narendra Modi slams Sonia-Imam meet; says Congress trying to divide the nation

NEW DELHI: Slamming Congress President Sonia Gandhi's 'direction' to Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Thursday said, "Sonia ji has made the mistake of trying to mislead and divide the nation. People will never forgive this kind of politics."

Raising questions on the meeting, Modi asked why the Election Commission has not acted on Sonia's comment. A delegation of Muslim leaders led by Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari met Sonia Gandhi during which she asked them to ensure that secular votes did not split in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Taking strong objection to Sonia Gandhi's appeal to Muslim leaders to ensure their votes are not split, BJP had termed it is a violation of the Model Code of Conduct and asked the Election Commission to take suo motu note of it.

Modi at his rally in Ghaziabad on Thursday also said, "A friend in Congress keeps talking about secularism. Today let me define what real secularism is. For Congress, secularism is an election slogan. For us it's every one is ours. For Congress secularism is votebank politics," he hit out.

"Congress secularism is divide and rule. We say unite, integrate and work for the nation," Modi added. Modi also said, "Congress is worried about why I am not raising the communal pitch."

BJP has accused Congress of playing communal politics and dubbed the ruling party as "pseudo secularist".

Making such an appeal to the minority community was an insult to Muslims as everyone had the right to exercise their franchise independently and not on the basis of religion, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar has said.

"This is an insult to Muslims. Congress' communal politics is exposed, because when yesterday a Muslim delegation under the leadership of (Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed) Bukhari met Sonia Gandhi, the Congress President appealed to them to ensure that their votes are not split.



Watch: Scramble for the Muslim vote





"This is absolute communal politics on display. This is absolutely unacceptable. This is also a violation of the Code of Conduct also because you cannot appeal to voters on the basis of religion and caste. We expect the Election Commission to take suo motu cognisance of this appeal," Javadekar said.

(With inputs from PTI)