UP election officials submit report over remarks by Mayawati to please Muslims

The poll authorities in Uttar Pradesh sent a factual report to the Election Commission (EC) here on Monday on the remarks made by BSP supremo Mayawati appealing to Muslims to vote for the SP-BSP alliance in the upcoming Lok Sabha election and not to allow the Congress to split their votes. The chief electoral officer of Uttar Pradesh had asked the Sharanpur district magistrate on Sunday to send him a factual report on Mayawati's remarks in order to allow the poll panel to ascertain whether the comments were violative of the Model Code of Conduct, in force since March 10.

The model code states: "There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes." The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief's open appeal to the minority community came at the first joint rally her party held with the Samajwadi Party at Deoband in the last two decades.

The report of the Saharanpur district magistrate was forwarded to the EC and a decision on whether the remarks violated the poll code was expected in the next two days, a source said. "I want to make an open appeal. It is not the Congress but the (SP-BSP-RLD) alliance which is fighting the BJP. The Congress wants to ensure that the alliance does not win. The Congress is trying to help the BJP in this election," Mayawati had said while sharing the stage with SP president Akhilesh Yadav and RLD chief Ajit Singh.

(With inputs from agencies.)