New Delhi: The BJP on Monday accused some opposition parties of deliberately triggering a row over the Lok Sabha elections being held during Ramzan, when Muslims fast, saying it is a "communal" ploy to divide the country ahead of the elections.
Leaders of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are among those who have claimed that holding elections during Ramzan will inconvenience Muslims and help the BJP as the community is largely seen to be backing the opposition parties against the ruling alliance.
BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said Navratas, when many Hindus observe fast, will also fall during the elections.
"Muslims do not observe roza by not doing their work. Islam also does not ask us to stop our work for worship. It is not that people who have jobs do not attend them during Ramzan. They keep roza and do their work as well. Creating such a controversy is unfortunate," he said.
People who want to divide the country on communal lines are causing a controversy over it deliberately, Hussain added.
The Election Commission had earlier said that polls have to be conducted during Ramzan as an entire month cannot be excluded from the schedule. However, dates of main festivals and Fridays have been avoided as poll days, it added.
The BJP leader noted that the Lok Sabha by-poll in Kairana in 2018 was held during Ramzan. The saffron party had lost the seat to the united opposition.
On Sunday, AAP leader Amanatullah Khan wrote on Twitter that elections will be held in Delhi on May 12, when Muslims will be observing Ramzan.
"There will be less polling among Muslims, and it will directly benefit the BJP," he said.
Some leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal have also spoken on similar lines.
Party leader and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said, “People will face problems in exercising their voting rights as some poll dates are clashing with Ramzan. Since the Election Commission is a constitutional body, I don’t want to comment much in to the matter. But they should have considered that people will suffer during Ramzan (in casting votes).”
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