Narendra Modi yesterday accused Sonia Gandhi of resorting to "rabid communalism" by appealing to Muslim leaders to ensure their votes are not split and sought Election Commission's action in this regard.
Against the backdrop of Gandhi's meeting with Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari where she had made the appeal, Modi said, "Congress is sensing defeat. So now, their slogan has shifted from secularism to rabid communalism.
"What she said yesterday... I appeal to the Election Commission... Asking for votes on the basis of communalism is against the rules of Election Commission as the polls have been announced," he said.
Modi was addressing a public meeting in support of BJP candidates from Indirapuram in HP's Ghaziabad district on the outskirts of the national capital.
"Twenty-four hours have passed and the news has already appeared in the media. Why is EC not taking suo moto action in this regard?" he asked.
From the same platform, he also sought votes for the candidate from neighbouring Gautam Budh Nagar avoiding the jinxed town of Noida, where there is a popular belief that leaders who visit the town lose their positions.
Earlier on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi rejected the BJP charge that his mother, Sonia Gandhi, was playing politics of communalism, saying they were not in the habit and game of polarising elections.
But Modi yesterday said: "Sonia has made the mistake of trying to mislead and divide the nation. People will never forgive this kind of politics. For Congress, secularism is religion first but for us it is India first."
He added for his party, secularism is to unite and develop while the Congress tradition was to divide and rule.
"For Congress secularism is an election slogan. For us every community is ours. For Congress secularism is vote bank politics, for BJP, development is national agenda. For Congress, it is a political weapon, for us it an article of faith," he said.
TRUE FRIENDS DON'T CHANGE FACES: SONIA
Congress President Sonia Gandhi yesterday took a jibe at the BJP and Nitish Kumar for "changing face from time to time" and said that they could not be true friends of the people.
"The country is passing through an
examination and those changing face from time to time cannot be your true friends," Gandhi said while campaigning for Congress candidate and Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
"People change face from time to time and to shield their failures, blame Congress," she said during her 15 minute address.
"They are throwing dust in eyes of people only for sake of the chair.
"They want to seize democracy in their fist," she said in her maiden poll campaign in Bihar, adding that Congress was needed for development and communal harmony in the country.
Gandhi also attacked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar without naming him.
"Some people in a bid to shield their failure blame the Congress," she said.
Attacking the BJP, she said the party was acting as if only they had done all the development work in the country and others did not do anything.
Referring to enactment of MN REGA, Right to Education, Food Security Law and Land Acquisition law, the UPA chairperson praised the performance of the Manmohan Singh government in the last 10 years and said the ruling coalition had "almost" fulfilled all the promises it made in 2004 as well in 2009.
Voting for the 2014 general election will begin on April 7.
More than 814 million people — a number larger than the population of Europe — will be eligible to vote in the world's biggest democratic exercise.
Voting will be held in nine stages, which will be staggered until May 12, and results are due to be announced on May 16. Elections to state assemblies in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim will be held simultaneously.
About 23 million eligible voters have been enrolled in the 18 to 19 age group, nearly 3 percent of India's voters.