OPINION | ‘VOTE JIHAD’ SLOGAN TO MOBILISE MUSLIM VOTERS

A new phrase ‘Vote Jihad’ was heard in the election lexicon of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday. This was uttered by none other than the niece of senior Congress leader and former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid while addressing a Samajwadi party rally in Kaimganj, Farrukhabad. Maria Alam Khan is a leader of the Samajwadi Party, while his uncle Salman Khurshid was elected MP from Farrukhabad twice, in 1991 and 2009. Since SP is the alliance partner of Congress, Salman Khurshid was present at the rally. Canvassing for SP candidate Nawal Kishore Shakya, Maria Alam Khan said, those Muslims who are supporting the BJP rival are nothing but ‘traitors of the community’ (Qaum Ke Gaddar) and all social contacts with them should be stopped (hukka-paani bandh). Speaking about the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens, Maria Alam Khan said, Muslims must start “Vote Jihad” if they want to stop “atrocities” against them. She said, “We need this sacrifice (qurbani) today. We have reached a point, where we can neither win nor lose…. If Muslims do not unite, they will face complete eradication under BJP-RSS rule…..Let us all restrain our emotions, work cleverly and silently unite to carry out this ‘vote jihad’. 

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