Ahmedabad: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national general secretary
Arun Jaitley on December 7 took strong exception to Congress "using religion as a
tool to garner votes for the Gujarat elections".
Referring to a newspaper advertisement of a Muslim organisation apparently appealing
people to vote for Congress, Jaitley told reporters, "Verbal appeals in the name of
religion have been made in the past but it is for the first time that a political
party has given such a printed advertisement in a newspaper."
However, when asked about BJP's religious arm Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) actively
using "Hindutva" to exhort masses to vote for the party, he said, "We have taken
objection to printed word in newspapers."
Though admitting that "using religion for electoral gains is not permitted by Law",
Jaitley, answering a query, said, "We are not going to lodge a formal complaint as
we are confident of BJP's victory."
"We are only appealing masses not to get carried away by such advertisements," he
said.
PTI
