Lucknow:  The electoral battle in Uttar Pradesh has largely been about minority appeasement. So, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav got Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, to bat for him.

The Imam slammed the Congress and endorsed Samajwadi Party in a bid to woo the state's Muslim population.

"The Congress has blood stains of innocent Muslims on it. Please vote for Mulayam Singh and he will protect your interests. Mulayam Singh Yadav has assured me that he will get justice for innocent Muslims," Mr Bukhari said.

But the move has created fissures within the party. Samajwadi Party's senior Muslim leader and general secretary Azam Khan has raised his objections, questioning the Imam's political loyalties.

"My loyalties are intact and do not change by the season like Imam Bukhari's," Mr Khan said. "We are politicians and we should be allowed to politicise issues not others," he added.

Mr Khan also said that the Imam has made similar appeals in the past to Muslims to vote for the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) as well.

Tags: Assembly elections, Assembly polls, Imam Bukhari, Mulayam Singh Yadav, UP polls