UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi addresses during an election campaign rally in New Delhi on Sunday.
Taking strong objection to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's appeal to Muslim leaders to ensure their votes are not split, the BJP on Wednesday termed it is a violation of the Model Code of Conduct and asked the Election Commission to take
suo motu note of it. (
Full coverage: India Votes 2014)
The principal opposition party also accused the 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 said.
"This is an insult to Muslims. Congress' communal politics is exposed, because when yesterday a Muslim delegation under the leadership of Syed Ahmed Bukhari (Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid) met Sonia Gandhi, the Congress President appealed to them to ensure that their votes are not split. 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," Mr Javadekar said.
He said in a democracy every person is free to vote according to his or her conscience and not on the basis of religion.
"That is the vote bank politics Congress is indulging in. This is what Congress is and stands completely exposed," he said, challenging it for a debate on secularism.
Mr Javadekar said, "Here is a new definition of secularism. We are seeking votes in the name of the country - for progress, for good governance. We are called communal. And those, everybody who seeks votes in the name of religion and caste, they are called secularists. This is absolutely a perverted definition of secularisms. They are not secularists, they are pseudo secularists."
Mrs Gandhi rejected the BJP's charge, calling it "absolutely a joke".
"We are not in the habit or in the game of polarising the elections," she told reporters when asked about BJP's charge of her playing communal politics.