BJP indulging in communal politics, alleges Shabana Azmi while campaigning for Kanhaiya

Actress Shabana Azmi charged the BJP on Thursday with playing "communal politics" to divert public attention from its failure in providing jobs, security to women and fulfilling other promises it had made during the last general election.

Addressing a poll meeting here in support of CPI candidate Kanhaiya Kumar, pitted against Union minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh from Begusarai in the ongoing parliamentary election, Azmi said, "It did not take much time for them (BJP) to get exposed, for the people to realise that their promises were just jumlas (rhetoric). So, they are back to their old game of pitting Hindus against Muslims."
The national award winner, known for her social activism, recalled the association of her father, poet Kaifi Azmi, with the Communist Party of India (CPI) and said, "For him, his membership card used to be the most prized possession. He always kept it in his pocket."
In an apparent reference to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate from Begusarai, Tanveer Hassan, Azmi said, "Please be on your guard against appeals to vote in the name of your religious identity. Muslims must not vote for someone just because he or she belongs to their community."