The Congress party will petition the Election Commission against the BJP, saying some of its poll advertisements in UP smacked of communalism. The party also demanded that the BJP issue a public apology over the controversial CD. “There cannot be worst form of communalism than what we are seeing in these advertisements. We will definitely take this issue to the Election Commission,” Congress leader and Union minister Kapil Sibal said.

Sibal said the BJP punning on the Hindi word pak in its poll campaign in the Aligarh region was a clear attempt to vilify Muslims and woo Hindu voters. “Kya inka irada pak hai?” (are their intentions pure) is the catchline of the saffron party’s ad blitz in newspapers in Aligarh. “The advertisement says that the intentions of Muslims are suspect..,” Sibal said, adding that his party would move the EC on the issue. The Congress also wants the BJP top brass in Uttar Pradesh, including its chief-ministerial candidate Kalyan Singh, to be kept away from the election process.

Sibal said Kalyan Singh, Yashwant Sinha, Kesrinath Tripathi and Lalji Tandon should be restricted from the poll process. “Kalyan Singh has publicly said there is nothing wrong in the CD. The BJP is taking a conflicting stand on the issue... We want them to apologise to the people of UP on the issue,” Sibal added. He dismissed as “diversionary tactics” the saffron party’s opposition to EC Navin Chawla’s presence during the hearing.