Salman Khurshid's Niece Calls For 'Vote Jihad'; BJP Says 'Muslims Need To Be Saved From Muslim Leaders'

Maria Alam Khan, Samajwadi leader and niece of former Union Minister Salman Khurshid, has triggered a controversy after calling Muslims to unite against the BJP by appealing for "vote Jihad". The incident is reported from Uttar Pradesh's Farrukhabad.

She was seeking votes for the Samajwadi Party candidate Naval Kishore Shakya when she said, "...Come together and do vote jihad. Only vote jihad can stop the BJP. It deeply saddens me to hear that some Muslim men helped Mukesh Rajput conduct a meeting here. I feel society should stop their bread and butter.

Don't become so selfish and play with your children's lives. Today, so many people are behind bars for protesting against CAA, and NRC. I am happy to inform you that Salman Khurshid saheb is fighting their cases. We are fighting for you, without your support we won't be able to do anything...this time vote wisely to save India to save its culture and Ganga-Jamuna tehzeeb,"

The clip was shared on the official X account of the news agency IANS.

Reportedly, she made the said comments in the presence of senior Congress leader and former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid. Explaining why she wants

Meanwhile, BJP Shehzad Poonawalla has come down heavily on Maria Alam Khan's comments and said, "Elections is the festival of democracy but, these people (Opposition parties) think its jihad. We are with people during this elections but they are with jihadis. Samajwadi Party even tried to release these jihadis. Today it is clear that the INDIA bloc manifesto is the Muslim League manifesto and this shows Muslim League manifestation. The Election Commission must take action on this."

Amit Malviya, in-charge of BJP's National Information & Technology Department, said, "Shaming Muslims for supporting a non-Muslim is a recipe for building an Islamic Caliphate. And the Congress claims to be 'secular'. If an educated Salman Khurshid's extended family is so radicalised, one can imagine the plight of ordinary Muslims. This is not to suggest that Salman Khurshid is any better but he does manage to hide his bigotry behind the glib talk. Muslims need to be saved from Muslim leaders if they have to progress and emerge from their ghettos,"