Agencies/Mumbai

 

More than 50 Bollywood filmmakers, actors and writers yesterday urged Indians not to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the ongoing general election.

The group signed an appeal calling on Indians to choose a “secular” party, without naming the BJP.

Critics fear the BJP could stoke religious tensions if it comes to power.

The letter, endorsed by directors Imtiaz Ali, Mahesh Bhatt and Zoya Akhtar, actress Nandita Das and singer Shubha Mudgal, comes as the BJP is tipped to win the biggest share of votes in the election, with Narendra Modi becoming the next prime minister.

“The best thing about our country is its cultural diversity, its pluralism - the co-existence of a number of religions and ethnicities over centuries, and hence the blooming of multiple streams of intellectual and artistic thought,” the letter said.

“And, this has been possible only because Indian society has prided itself on being essentially secular in character, rejecting communal hatred, embracing tolerance.

“Today, that very sense of India is vulnerable.”

The letter, which appeared on the Mumbai Mirror newspaper’s website yesterday, called on Indians to vote for the secular party most likely to win in their constituencies.

Protection of India’s secular status has surfaced as a key election issue. Critics fear Modi’s nationalist rhetoric could fuel religious tensions in the country where 13% of the population is Muslim.

Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat, remains a divisive figure after being accused of failing swiftly to curb anti-Muslim riots in his state in 2002. The unrest cost at least 1,000 lives.

Modi has denied any wrongdoing.

Last week a group of Indian artists and academics, including author Salman Rushdie, wrote to Britain’s Guardian newspaper to express “acute worry” over Modi becoming prime minister.

Meanwhile in Patna, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi told Modi to "stop fooling the country" by claiming that he had solutions to all the problems.

Gandhi said Bihar would need a Bihar model of development for its success, not a Gujarat model.

He targeted Modi, saying the BJP's Gujarat model was one-man centric - because one person wanted to become the prime minister.

"His (Modi's) goal is to become PM, nothing else," Gandhi said.

"The development of Gujarat or the country cannot be the handiwork of one man. It is the result of people, particularly farmers, workers, labourers..."

Gandhi reiterated that Modi's economic model was like a "toffee or balloon" model, aimed at looting public money to benefit corporate houses.

He charged Modi with giving away 45,000 acres of land belonging to poor farmers to one corporate house at Re1 per sq m "which is equivalent to the price of a toffee."

The Congress said Modi was talking about development in Gujarat but silent over the fact that some 4mn people of that state were below the poverty line and earned less than Rs11 a day.