Maria Alam Khan, Salman Khurshid’s niece, was arrested over the “vote jihad” appeal dispute

Salman Khurshid, the Congress politician, and his niece Maria Alam Khan were arrested after the latter encouraged Muslims to engage in “vote jihad” at a public gathering in Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh. Leader of the Samajwadi Party (SP), Maria Alam, made the contentious comments on Monday while supporting INDIA bloc candidate Naval Kishore Shakya for the Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency.

Alam called for “vote jihad,” saying that the minority community must remove the BJP administration from office under the present circumstances. Former Union minister Khurshid was also present during the demonstration.

Police action against the niece Khurshid
Following a report from the Surveillance Team and Flying Squad, the Uttar Pradesh Police filed a case against her for breaking the provisions of the Representation of People Act and the IPC as soon as the video of her speech became popular on social media. Khurshid, the main guest at the electoral gathering in Kaimganj, was also the subject of a complaint that was filed, according to the police.

The two were charged under the Representation of People Act’s section 125 (promoting enmity between classes in connection with elections), section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), and section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant).

What was stated by Maria Alam?
“Together do vote jihad — with intelligence, without being sentimental, and with silence,” the SP leader remarked as he addressed the crowd. Since the only thing we can do to overthrow this Sanghi administration is vote jihad. She continued by saying that we have to work together to prevent this “Sanghi government from succeeding in wiping out our existence.”

People claim that democracy and the Constitution are at danger. However, I contend that humanity, or insaniyat, is in danger. There is now a “insaniyat” assault. She emphasized that if people want to preserve the nation, its natural beauty, and its “ganga-jamuni” (composite) culture, they must vote extremely wisely and independently of outside influences.

What Salman Khurshid clarified
When asked about his niece’s comments, Salman Khurshid said that he usually stays away from using terms like that since their literal meaning might be misconstrued. “To fight against a situation is to practice jihad.” He said that she must have intended to carry out “vote jihad” in order to save the Constitution.