'Boycott Muslims Who Support BJP': Case Against Salman Khurshid's Niece Maria Alam Over 'Vote Jihad' Speech

A case has been filed against Samajwadi Party leader Maria Alam Khan, niece of senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid, over a controversial speech she gave while campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh’s Kaimganj.

The FIR, which also names Khurshid, has been registered for the violation of poll code under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 188 and 295A in Kaimganj police station in the Fatehgarh district.

While seeking votes for INDIA bloc’s candidate — Naval Kishore Shakya — from Uttar Pradesh’s Farrukhabad constituency, Maria Alam made an appeal of “vote jihad“, terming it to be a necessity for the “minority community” in the current situation.

Khurshid was also present as the chief guest at the public meeting that Maria Alam was addressing.

“Together do vote jihad — with intelligence, without being sentimental and with silence,” she said, adding that this is “only way to drive away” the BJP government.

Giving a warning about threat to humanity, she said, “People say that Constitution and democracy are under threat. But I say that insaniyat (humanity) is under threat.”

She told the people that if the they wanted to save the country, its beauty and culture, then they should cast their votes “very intelligently without getting influenced”.

The SP leader also told voters to “boycott Muslims who support the Bharatiya Janata Party”.

The video of Maria Alam’s controversial video has also gone viral on social media. Speaking to CNN-News18, she said, “It was an election campaign and we were doing it in our community… Since the vote percentage was less… So I said…Jihad means sangharsh (struggle). I didn’t know what you people are understanding.”

Farrukhabad District Magistrate Dr VK Singh told news agency ANI, “Yesterday, Salman Khurshid and SP leader Maria Alam Khan were addressing a public rally in Kayamganj, during which Maria Alam Khan asked the minority community to go for vote jihad.”

“Prima facie, she tried to increase the gap between the two communities… This is a violation of sections 188, 295, and section 125 of the RP Act,” he added.

Meanwhile, Khurshid defended his niece’s statements and said that the Jihad is a metaphor for people’s struggle against a tough situation. He said that he avoids using such words as its literal meaning gets misinterpreted.

“Her intention must have been to carry out vote jihad to protect the Constitution,” the senior Congress leader added.

Talking about his candidature from the INDIA bloc from Farrukhabad, Khurshid said that the grand old party offered him a ticket Aligarh. However, he declined the offer saying, “I am Salman Khurshid from Farrukhabad and I stay that only.”

Notably, this was the opposition grouping’s first public meeting in the Farrukhabad constituency, with the presence of most of the senior leaders of both the Congress and Samajwadi Party on the dias.

(With agency inputs)

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