Union Minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh on Friday trained his guns at the Congress-RJD alliance in poll-bound Bihar, alleging a "sympathiser" of Mohammad Ali Jinnah has been fielded from Jale seat and sought to know whether both the parties support the ideology of Pakistan's founder.
The Congress has given ticket to Maskoor Ahmad Usmani to contest Bihar polls from Jale assembly segment in Darbhanga district.
Referring to news reports that Jinnah's portrait was found in the office of Aligarh Muslim University Students' Union when Usmani was president of the body, Singh said, "The Congress has given the ticket to a supporter of Jinnah who divided India into two".
"Now, leaders of Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) will have to answer to the people of the country whether they also support the ideology of Pakistan's founder," he said.
Leaders of RJD, who are dreaming to rule the state, will have to speak on this issue, Singh said without naming Tejashwi Yadav. The Union minister also alleged that Bihar had become the headquarters of SIMI during when RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav was the chief minister.
Claiming that leaders of the Grand Alliance "can go to any extent for the sake of politics", Singh appealed to the people of Bihar that they should not be "misguided" by these parties. "Don't do anything which is not in the interest of Bihar and the country."
Violence had broken out at the Aligarh Muslim University campus in Uttar Pradesh two years ago as the row over Muhammad Ali Jinnah's portrait on the campus triggered a protest.
The then AMU spokesperson had said Jinnah was a founder member of the University Court and granted life membership of the student union. "Traditionally, photographs of all life members of are placed on the walls of the student union," he had said.
Elections for the 243-member Bihar Assembly will be held in three phases -- October 28, November 3 and November 7. The coalition of the RJD, Congress and Left parties is the main challenger to the ruling JD(U)-BJP alliance in the elections.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor