KOZHIKODE: Sunni leader Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar has denied the social media propaganda that the Kanthapuram section had sought votes for the BJP in Karnataka. “The campaign is fake and misleading,” he said in the wake of a video grab of a Sunni Ustad appealing in Kannada that the followers of Kanthapuram should vote for the BJP.
Kanthapuram has often been attacked for his soft stand towards the BJP and the video has been widely used by rival groups to vindicate the connection. “We have not officially taken any decision for or against any party. Our members can vote for a secular party according to their conscience,” explained Moh-ammad Shareef, Karnat-aka state finance secretary of SSF, the student wing of Kanthapuram group.
He said the speech of the Ustad in the video was at a function held in Mangaluru one-and-a- half years back and it was deliberately being spread now. “That Ustad was not our official representative and action was taken against him for the controversial speech,” he claimed.
“Kanthapuram enjoys good rapport with the BJP. The soft corner towards the saffron party helps him in setting up religious and educational institutions in Gujarat and elsewhere. BJP candidate K. Surendran was short of only 89 votes in winning in Manjeshwaram Assembly election due to the overwhelming support of Kanthapuram,” noted a Muslim scholar, who requested anonymity.
