New Delhi: Congress leader Salman Khurshid’s niece Maria Alam Khan stirred a major controversy on Tuesday as she appealed and exhorted people at a public rally in Farrukhabad to take to ‘vote jihad’ to dislodge the Modi Government.
Amid the political storm over her call for ‘vote jihad’, the BJP pulled out an old video of Salman Khurshid, where the Congress veteran is advocating for ‘greater representation’ for Muslims in the administration and how this will ‘translate’ into votes for the party.
Amit Malviya, BJP IT cell chief shared an old video of Salman Khurshid and said that Maria Khan ‘inherited’ radicalism and bigotry from her uncle.
“Khurshid, speaking at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University, Rhode Island in May 2016, articulated how Congress resorted to what he termed as ‘clawing back’ the enlightened and thinking Muslims in urban areas to regain power. This strategy, he suggested, was instrumental in the formation of the UPA 1 and UPA 2”, wrote Malviya on X.
He further said that the Congress manifesto should be seen in the same light as the party has an ‘old custom of Muslim appeasement’, for pursuing political gains.
In the four-minute-long video, that has got major traction on social media now, Salman Khurshid could also be seen making claims about the Congress’ push for Muslim reservation, at the expense of SC/ST and OBCs and also how the judicial intervention nixed the 4 per cent sub-quote for backward Muslims.
Addressing a public gathering, Salman Khurshid’s niece and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Maria Alam Khan appealed to people for ‘jihad for votes’ to oust the Modi government while also fuming over some members of the community rallying behind Mukesh Rajput, the BJP candidate from Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency.
“Get united, all of you should vote silently and en masse. Jihad for votes is our only option to oust this government,” Maria urged the people while cursing those Muslim individuals who organised a public meet for BJP’s Mukesh Rajput.
“They must be punished for their unacceptable behaviour,” she added.
In the viral video, she could also be heard asking those attending Mukesh Rajput’s public meet, to first think about their children and fellow brothers before rallying behind the BJP nominee.
She also claimed that Salman Khurshid was fighting a legal battle to free many people locked in jails, in cases related to CAA and NRC.
— IANS