Shahi Imam announces support for Congress

New Delhi: One of the India's most important religious Muslim leaders has announced his support for the Congress.

Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid mosque in Delhi, said today, "We had discussions with Sonia Gandhi. For elections 2014, I announce support for the Congress, with the rider that they will fulfill their promises if they come to power. We have to stand united against communal forces."

The religious leader accused Uttar Pradesh rivals Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of opportunistic politics.

"The Samajwadi Party failed to protect Muslims," he said, referring to the September Muzaffarnagar riots in which nearly 60 people were killed and thousands driven out of their villages. The BSP, he added, had failed to convince him that it would not join hands with the BJP after the polls.

Imam Bukhari's meeting with Sonia Gandhi has been described by the BJP as an attempt by the Congress president to polarize the vote by religion. The BJP has registered its complaint with the Election Commission because Mrs Gandhi reportedly asked the Shahi Imam and other Muslim leaders accompanying him to ensure the minority vote in India is not split.

"This is an attempt to polarise voters. The Election Commission should take note," the BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad said, reacting to the imam's declaration.

Yesterday, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi attacked Mrs Gandhi for "open communalism"; today, another senior BJP leader, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, reiterated that charge. "Sonia Gandhi calls us communal and makes a deal with Imam Bukhari" said Mr Chauhan, who is the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister.

Sonia Gandhi denied the charge, telling reporters, "We are not in the habit or in the game of polarising the elections."

The Election Commission had said if a complaint is filed, it would examine the issue and "further action would be taken."