Rahul 'hand of God' comment seeks vote on communal basis, violates MCC: BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday alleged that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's 'hand of God' comment is nothing but a communal appeal to seek votes ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections, and hence, violates the moral code of conduct (MCC).

"This is the Congress party's brand new communal agenda and Rahul Gandhi is flouting the moral code of conduct. The statement given by Rahul Gandhi is made to spread communalism during election time and Election Commission should take stringent action," Minister of State for Minority Affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.

Naqvi alleged that Congress has been a history-sheeter party and this has been their traditional way of working.

"The Election Commission (EC) has said that they have taken it very seriously and that they'll take necessary steps," he added.

Naqvi also quirked the upcoming Samajwadi-Congress alliance ahead of the Uttar Pradesh election.

"As we have heard about the alliance, then common minimum program of the coalition would be corruption, misgovernance and communalism," he said.

Last Friday, BJP had filed a complaint with the poll panel against the Gandhi for hurting religious sentiments, by co-relating the symbol of Congress with religious gods such as Shiv, Guru Nanak, Buddha, Islam and Mahavir.

In a complaint to the Chief Electoral Officer, the BJP had alleged that Gandhi, during a Jan Vedna Sammelan convention, held in Delhi, had violated the provisions of Representation of Peoples Act, 1951, Model Code of Conduct and guidelines issued by the Supreme Court.

During the convention, Gandhi had said that he saw the Congress symbol - an open palm - in the photos of gods belonging to various religions.

"I was told that the Congress party was around 100 years old. But one day, when I was going through some photos, I saw the Congress symbol in a photo of Shivji," Gandhi said.