The Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan has written to the Election Commission via Jharkhand's electoral officer, accusing home minister Amit Shah of "spreading hatred against Muslims" and seeking votes "through religious polarisation".

In the letter written to Jharkhand chief electoral officer K. Ravikumar on Saturday, the Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan members alleged that Shah, during a rally to garner support for BJP candidate and incumbent Union agriculture and tribal welfare minister Arjun Munda on Friday, “had sought votes in the name of Ram Mandir and shouted religious slogan of 'Jai Shri Ram' at the end of the meeting".

The letter says: "Also, he (Shah) referred to Muslims as ‘infiltrators’ several times.”

“He tried to create religious hatred against Muslims among the tribals on the basis of baseless statements and on the basis of this sought votes for his party. For example, infiltrators occupy tribal lands, build settlements in villages, secretly marry tribal girls, etc. He tried to show Muslims as enemies of other communities and tried to create religious hatred,” the letter further alleges.

The letters seeks action against Shah for violation of the model code of conduct and the Representation of the People Act. “This is a violation of the very first clause of the code of conduct, which prohibits all parties and candidates from doing any activity that “may create tension or hatred between different castes or communities (religious or language-based) or the differences will increase further," it says.

It is also a violation of Section 3(A) of the Representation of the People Act, which prohibits any candidate from “promoting feelings of hatred or enmity among the citizens of India on grounds of religion, race, caste, community or language”, the letter states.

“Asking for votes in the name of religion is also a clear violation. Also, this is hate speech under sections 153 (A), 295 (A) of 505 (1) (b) and (c) 505 (2) of IPC. The Supreme Court has given clear orders many times that suo motu FIR should be registered against the speaker for hate speech,” the letter adds.

During a rally in Khunti Lok Sabha seat, the campaign also reminded the chief electoral officer that similar speeches were given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at three places (Singhbhum, Lohardaga and Palamu Lok Sabha seats) in the state on May 3 and 4 and a complaint was also lodged against him.