SP's Maria Alam appeals for 'vote jehad'; BJP says she 'inherited bigotry from Salman Khurshid'

Samajwadi Party leader Maria Alam has been booked for seeking votes on communal lines, India Today reported on Tuesday. Maria Alam, while seeking votes for the INDIA bloc candidate from the Farrukhabad Lok Sabha seat, on Monday made an appeal for "vote jehad", terming it as necessary in the current situation for the minority community to drive away the BJP government. 

Alam, the niece of senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid, made this appeal in the presence of senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid. She said "vote jehad" was needed in the current situation to protect the minority community". 

"Together do vote jehad -- with intelligence, without being sentimental and with silence. As we can only do vote jehad to drive away this Sanghi government," she said, adding that it was time to join hands, otherwise the "Sanghi government will succeed in wiping out our existence".

"People say that Constitution and democracy are under threat. But I say that insaniyat (humanity) is under threat. Now there is an attack on 'insaniyat'. If you want to save the country, its beauty and 'ganga-jamuni' (composite) culture, then vote very intelligently without getting influenced by anyone," she stressed. 

In the public meeting, Khurshid took part as the chief guest. The video of Alam's statement has also gone viral on social media. When asked about his niece's comments, Khurshid said generally he avoids using such words because their literal meaning is misinterpreted. "Jihad means to fight against a situation. Her intention must have been to carry out vote jihad to protect the Constitution," he said. 

The BJP, however, attacked Khurshid, saying Mariam inherited her "radicalism and bigotry from none other than Salman Khurshid". "Mariam Alam Khan, has inherited her radicalism and bigotry from none other than Salman Khurshid, who in May 2016, speaking at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University, Rhode island, articulated how Congress, in its pursuit of political gains, resorted to what he termed as "clawing back" the enlightened and thinking Muslims in urban areas to regain power," BJP's Amit Malviya said.  

"This strategy, he suggested, was instrumental in the formation of UPA 1 and UPA 2. The discourse around Muslims, Khurshid pointed out, shifted from being referred to as minorities to Muslims explicitly, marking a departure from earlier political rhetoric. During the course of his address, he makes several other claims around Congress’s push for Muslim reservation, at the expense of SC/ST and OBCs, which didn’t go through because of judicial intervention," Malviya added. 

"So, for the Congress, which is now the new Muslim League, minorities equals Muslims. Now read the Congress 2024 manifesto again," the BJP leader said. 

(With inputs from PTI)