Former minister Dr P Shankar Rao, on Sunday, strongly condemned senior journalist M J Akbar for joining the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Shankar Rao alleged that Akbar had chosen to give preference to his personal gains over the community's welfare, and had joined the BJP to give an impression that the party's Prime Ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was secular.
He said that Akbar's decision was aimed at sending the wrong message that Muslims have forgotten the Gujarat riots of 2002.
Shankar Rao said that although everyone is free to join any party in the country, being an icon of the Muslim community, Akbar should have avoided joining a communal party like BJP.
"Besides playing a role in the demolition of the Babri Masjid, and in a series of riots in the country, the BJP governments have done nothing for the development of Muslims," he alleged. (INN)