UP Elections 2017: Imam asks people to vote for SP-Congress alliance

A day before the first phase Assembly election begins in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, Imam of Tipu Sultan Mosque Syed Mohammad Nurur Rahman Barkati on Friday appealed to the people to support the SP-Congress alliance, accusing the BJP and the RSS of trying to win the election through their “dirty politics”.

“Election in Uttar Pradesh is very important and I appeal to all my Muslim and secular Hindu brothers and sisters in UP not to cast a single vote to the BJP,” Barkati told reporters in Kolkata at the Tipu Sultan mosque.

Describing the RSS and the BJP as the ‘enemy’ of the Muslims, the Imam said that the “people must not forget that the RSS and the BJP had demolished the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya”.

The Imam also said that the Modi government’s decision for demonetisation was the “biggest international scam” and drew a comparison between US President Donald Trump and Narendra Modi.

“Modi is spoiling the country the same way as Trump is doing in America,” he said criticising Trump’s decision to “limit the entry of people from some Muslim countries to combat terrorism”, he alleged.

Last month, Barkati had issued a ‘fatwa’ against Modi, accusing him of ‘bluffing’ the people through demonetisation, which had evoked a sharp reaction from the BJP which demanded his arrest.