Don't evoke fear to woo voters, Madani tells 'secular' parties

He said the secular parties should not seek votes on a negative plank

Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind leader Mehmood Madani Tuesday asked the "secular" parties not to seek votes of the Muslim community by evoking fear.

Speaking to Times Now news channel, Madani said the secular parties should not seek votes on a negative plank.

"In the next election, they should not try to seek our votes by showing fear of someone, on a negative plank," Madani said.

Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind is an over 90-year-old organisation which works on a range of issues including social, educational and religious reform among Muslims and protection of Islamic beliefs, identity, heritage and places of worship.

Madani's apparent reference was to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi who is the prime ministerial candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has been targeted by the Congress and some other parties for the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat.

Modi has been described as a "divisive" figure by several Congress leaders and there have been suggestions from various quarters that minorities will vote for non-BJP candidates due to his projection as the prime ministerial candidate.

Madani said the secular parties should tell what they had done for the minority community and what were their plans for the future.

"For (getting justice), for equal opportunity, what is their planning," he said.

Without naming any party, he said the secular parties should tell how many promises in their manifesto have been fulfilled.