Gujarat Muslims vote for BJP out of fear: Azam Khan

Some Muslims in Gujarat vote for the BJP out of fear, Uttar Pradesh Urban Development and Minority Affairs Minister Azam Khan said Monday.

Khan's statement came a day after BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi blamed Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for failing to check communal riots in UP.

Azam Khan, a lieutenant of Mulayam Singh, rubbished reports that some sections of the Muslim community had begun to accept the idea of Modi as India's prime minister.

"After the bloodshed of 2002 in Gujarat, no one can even think like this," he said.

Admitting that some Muslims voted for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat, Khan said this was due to the fear of victimization at the hands of the Modi government if they did not do so.

"If they do not vote for Modi, they will be hounded out of the state," he alleged.