A liar cannot be the ruler of India: Azam Khan

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of creating a "divide between Hindus and Muslims in the country" and of lying to the nation.

"Modiji you have no other topic other than Pakistan and Muslims. You have created a divide between Hindus and Muslims in the country by instilling hatred for Muslims in the hearts of the Hindus," he said at a public rally here.

"The ruler of a nation should not lie and the one who lies cannot be a ruler," Khan, who is contesting polls from the Rampur seat, added.

The former cabinet minister in the Akhilesh Yadav government asked people from Dalit and backward communities to realise the power the two communities had in the upcoming elections.

"My friends from the Dalit and backward communities, you need to unite. After 70 years you have got this opportunity to decide who will unfurl the tricolour at the Red Fort. You have got the right after a long time. The one on whose head you place the crown will be India's ruler," the SP leader said.

Without taking names, Khan targeted former SP leaders, Amar Singh and Jaya Prada, by stating that people whom he had introduced to Rampur and UP politics now wanted to end him and his political career.

Jaya Prada is contesting as a BJP candidate from the Rampur parliamentary constituency.

Uttar Pradesh will see polling in all seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections beginning April 11 and ending on May 19. The results will be declared on May 23.