Modi slams Sonia's meeting with Muslim leader

"Congress is defeated, and so, now from ‘secularism’ they have moved to open communalism. What the Congress President said…to seek votes on the basis of religion is against the laws of this nation. Suo motu action must be taken. You tell me is it proper to appeal like this on religious grounds? Don’t give empty slogans and then divide brothers, " Modi said while addressing a campaign rally at Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.

"Sadly this has been the Congress tradition. Sonia ji has made the mistake of trying to mislead and divide the nation. People will never forgive this kind of politics," he said.

Modi said that the Congress’ laxity in tackling the grave concerns of price rise, unemployment, poverty, empowerment of farmers and women, was clearly evident in their recurrent reference to ‘secularism’, each time they were asked to address these concerns. 

“Congress is worried about giving answers and that is why they keep saying only one thing – secularism, secularism. They are worried because all they have is 40 years of the same thing. They never thought a tea seller would seek answers from them. The Congress never thought that the son of a poor man will ask them on how they fooled the nation,” said Modi.

The Gujarat chief minister later in a series of tweets said: "Now that people have seen through Congress' empty slogans & 'commitment' towards secularism, they have turned to open communalism."

"Congress President's recent appeal on religious lines is shocking! Such divisive politics is against laws of our land. EC must take action," he posted on his Twitter account.

"For us, secularism is to unite & work for the nation. For Congress, secularism is 'Religion First' but for us it is 'India First'," he said.

Appealing the electorates to vote against the Congress party, he tweeted: "India needs to break free from Cong's divisive mindset & take every section of society together for India's progress."

Earlier, the BJP moved the Election Commission to take cognizance of the Congress supremo's reported appeal to Muslims that they must not let their votes split in Lok Sabha elections.

"Congress is appealing to Muslims to vote on communal and religious grounds. What kind of secularism is this? This is vote-bank politics," BJP  leader Prakash Javedkar told mediapersons.

This comes after Sonia Gandhi met Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari at her residence.

Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley slammed Sonia over the meeting and accused the Congress party of spreading communalism. 

"The persons she met, are they the only secular voters. When the Congress is on the defeating side, they are banking on this communal politics. But this will backfire and will land the Congress in trouble," Jaitley said.

According to reports, the meeting lasted for 45 minutes, during which Bukhari apprised her of various issues pertaining to the community.

"Sources close to Bukhari said a decision to support the Congress has been finalised and an official announcement is likely to come on Friday," CNN-IBN reported.

Support from an influential leader like Bukhari can boost up Congress's appeal to the Muslim voters.