BJP approaches EC against Kamal Nath, demands action

Hours after a video viral about Congress leader Kamal Nath asking Muslim workers to ensure "90 per cent polling" in the community-dominated booths, the BJP on Wednesday asked the Election Commission to act against Nath for inciting religious sentiments by appealing to a particular community.

A BJP delegation comprising Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, party MPs S.S. Ahluwalia, Meenakshi Lekhi and Anil Baluni submitted their complaint to the Commission amid election campaign in Madhya Pradesh for November 28 polls.

In its complaint, the Bharatiya Janata Party alleged: "Nath in an address to a gathering appealed exclusively to Muslim voters to mobilise 90 per cent votes for the Congress in Muslim booths. It is tragic that Nath chose to even divide the booths along religious lines."

"Nath is clearly appealing to voters on the basis of religious denomination, which agitates against the spirit of free and fair elections," it said.

"Criminal action should be initiated against Nath and his accomplice for committing electoral and other offences and for seeking to divide the voters along communal lines and communalizing the elections," the party said in its complaint.

The BJP's complaint came after a video went viral which purportedly showed Nath asking workers to take out the figures from last elections and do a "postmortem" as to why the polling percentage was only 50-60 per cent in the Muslim majority booths.

"Resolve today that you would ensure 80-90 per cent polling in your booths. If we don't get 90 per cent votes of the Muslim community, we may suffer a big loss," Nath, the MP Congress President, is seen telling the workers.

"...You (Muslim Congress workers) will have to take care of your own society, not just for the Congress but for the whole state," Nath said.

The meeting where the video was shot apparently took place in October.

The party also accused a Hindi News Channel of publishing the opinion poll on November 18 at the behest of Congress.

"The said electronic publishing of opinion polls is a clear case of paid news and is punishable under the provision of electoral laws," it said.

The party demanded EC take legal action against the news channel for publishing the paid news.

--IANS

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