Never asked for votes in the name of Islam, says Ghulam Nabi Azad; Rubbishes BJP's allegations
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday (May 3) rubbished BJP's allegation that he asked for votes in the name of Islam in Karnataka and said he would resign as Parliament member if the charges are proven right.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had alleged Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mallikarjun Kharge in their campaign in a Muslim locality in Karnataka sought the community's votes for their party in the name of Islam.
"I didn't hold any public meeting especially for Muslims, it was just a public meeting. I challenge, if anyone meeting EC officials has video or audio of mine saying 'vote in name of Islam', then I will resign as Parliament member and leader of opposition," news agency ANI quoted Azad as saying.
Another Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said the Congress leaders told Muslims that their votes for the party will be in the service of Islam, which is in "danger", as he asserted that such rank communalism is a crime under the The Representation of People Act. Prasad said the Congress is desperate as it is set to lose the polls and that is why its government in the state and its leaders are resorting to various tactics to weaken the BJP's campaign.
Besides action against the Congress leaders, the BJP has demanded that a few deputy commissioners and some other state officials be removed, he said.
The
BJP
delegation,
which
also
included
Union
ministers
Mukhtar
Abbas
Naqvi
and
Dharmendra
Pradhan
besides
senior
party
leader
Arun
Singh,
also
alleged
that
the
Congress
is
full
of
moneybags
in
the
state
and
they
were
distributing
money.
Karnataka
is
set
to
vote
on
May
12.
The
voting
across
224
constituencies
would
be
held
in
one
phase
and
results
would
be
declared
on
May
15.