Vijay Jolly complains to EC against Muslim cleric

Senior BJP leader Vijay Jolly has complained to the Election Commission (CEC) against alleged violation of Model Code of Conduct by a Pune-based cleric, Abdur Rashid Miftahi, through a video uploaded in social media that "spreads false and communal propaganda" against the BJP and Hindus.

In his complaint filed on Monday, Jolly told Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) Sunil Arora that false and malicious campaign is being run against the Hindus by Rashid Miftahi through a video, which is against the spirit of Indian Constitution.

It calls for action under Section 125 of the Representation of People Act, 1951, he wrote, adding: "This is with a malicious and mischievous intent to mislead and communalise the Muslim brothers and sisters against the ruling BJP in India."

A former Delhi legislator, Jolly said: "It is against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s 'Sankalp Patra' (election manifesto) for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections released by BJP President Amit Shah, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and other senior leaders, last week in Delhi."

This video appeals to the Muslim community to join hands on religious lines and vote against the ruling party, and therefore, this video violates the model code of conduct, he added.

It may be noted that the BJP manifesto does not make explicitly or obtrusively make any promise to turn India into a "Hindu Nation", he said and added that such false propaganda is a nefarious design to disturb communal harmony and spread hatred on religious lines at the time of elections in India.

"We demand immediate action including penal process under IPC against the culprits and also ban public circulation of such malicious videos circulating in social media channels such as WhatsApp, etc.," he said.

--IANS

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