New Delhi: The BJP on Tuesday appealed to the Election Commission to ensure that the Lok Sabha election be held in a free and fair manner and anyone trying to vitiate the atmosphere should be dealt with sternly.
"We would want the Election Commission to conduct polls in a free and fair manner and if anyone is trying to vitiate the atmosphere by adding poison, strict action should be initiated against him," BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
He was responding to a query on how some parties are arousing religious passions through their statements leading to polarisation.
"Congress, Samajwadi Party and BSP are desperate to flare up communal passions by raking up issues. We want polarisation of polls on grounds of development and good governance. We want there should be polarisation on national interest. All people should participate in such polarisation," he said.
Naqvi also urged the EC to ensure its actions on complaints against states should be dealt with while taking the concerned states into confidence.
"We want the EC should take action on complaints dispassionately as sometimes state governments feel the action is being politically motivated. The EC should take the state officials in confidence before initiating such action," he said, responding to a question on the row over West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refusing to accept the transfer of officials ordered by the EC.
The BJP leader charged Congress and SP were raking up issues that flared communal passions ahead of polls with only "with votes in their mind".
"We are not seeking votes through fatwas but through our work. Why do so-called protectors of secularism remember raking up issues during elections?," he said to a question on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav seeking cancellation of bail of all those accused in Muzaffarnagar riots.
