Pawar accuses Fadnavis of coining ‘vote jihad’ to polarise Assembly poll
Mumbai: NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday accused BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis of giving religious colour to the state Assembly election by talking about “vote jihad”. In his election rally a day before, Mr. Fadnavis played a video clip of All India Muslim Personal Law Board member Maulana Sajad Nomani appealing to people to carry out “vote jihad”. In response, Mr. Fadnavis said “we” should carry out dharma yudh of votes. Mr. Pawar said that the term vote jihad has been coined by the BJP leaders in order to push their communal agenda.
“They (BJP) want to hold elections on communal lines. By raising slogans like ‘batenge toh katenge’. They know that they are not going to get success in elections. Therefore they are trying to play a communal card and create divisions between Hindu and Muslim communities,” Mr. Pawar said.
Addressing an election rally at Khadakwasla in Pune on Friday, Mr. Fadnavis had given a call for “dharma yudh of votes” to counter the call for “vote jihad”. The BJP leader played the video clip of Mr. Nomani’s recorded message, in which he was heard appealing for “vote jihad” in Maharashtra election. In the video clip, Mr. Nomani claimed that if the BJP is defeated in Maharashtra, the Narendra Modi government at the Centre will also collapse soon. “Delhi is our target,” Mr. Nomani says in the video and calls Sharad Pawar a “commander’ and Rahul Gandhi and Uddhav Thackeray “great soldiers” of “this vote jihad”.
In his rally, Mr. Fadnavis said that if the MVA is resorting to ‘vote jihad’, it was time for ‘dharma yudh of votes’ to counter them.
Mr. Pawar said that Mr. Fadnavis has coined the ‘love jihad’ term because minorities had voted for MVA candidates in some Lok Sabha constituencies. “In some areas, specific communities live in large numbers. Like in some areas of Pune, the Hindu community resides in large numbers and they vote for the BJP. We are used to it. We do not call it vote jihad. We don’t give it a religious colour but consider it as their ideology. Mr. Fadnavis and his colleagues are trying to fight the election on religious lines. We are exactly opposite that,” he said.
However, Mr. Fadnavis said that it was the Congress and its allies who are polarising the election to gain votes. “In the video that has come out, Mr. Nomani is calling to find and boycott those who supported BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. He further calls for vote jihad and says that our leaders for vote jihad are Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, and Rahul Gandhi. What kind of politics is going on? We have never seen this kind of polarization in politics before. Congress and its allies, due to the panic of defeat, are trying to bring forward such ideas that divide the society and the country,” the BJP leader said.
Meanwhile, another BJP leader Kirit Somaiya said that he has lodged a formal complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) against Mr. Nomani, for promoting ‘vote jihad’ and inciting hateful religious sentiments. “He has called for the social boycott of Muslims supporting the BJP and even suggested renaming them with non-Muslim names like Ghanshyam Das. Additionally, he has openly appealed for ‘vote jihad’. I urge the Election Commission to take strict action against such divisive acts,” Mr. Somaiya said.