Priests on Saturday “purified” a temple with “1,000 litres” of Ganga water in Kanpur district because a Muslim woman, contesting an Assembly by-election on a Samajwadi Party ticket, had prayed and performed rituals there on Diwali.

Naseem Solanki, candidate from Shisamau, said she had visited the Van-Khandeshwar temple in her constituency at her Hindu supporters’ request.

“God is not anyone’s property; anyone can seek His blessings,” she told reporters.

But a local Sunni cleric, Mufti Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi, criticised her saying: “Islam is against idol worship; we have issued a fatwa (ruling) against her for violating her religion.”

Naseem had done a jalabhishek of the Shivalinga at the temple on Thursday and lit a diya to celebrate Diwali. Her supporters had posted the video on social media.

Shisamau, one of nine Assembly constituencies up for by-election on November 13, fell vacant when Naseem’s husband and sitting Samajwadi MLA Irfan Solanki was jailed for seven years for burning an old woman’s house.

“My husband is in jail and so I am contesting the by-election. The people of the constituency will judge me and my husband through their votes,” Naseem, who is in her 40s, said.

“I haven’t celebrated Diwali or Eid for the last two years because my husband is in jail in a false case. But many Hindus who support me asked me to accompany them to the temple. It was not apolitical move but purely community work.”

On the Muslim cleric’s comments, she said: “They are respected people in our society and I’ll always keep their suggestions in mind.”

A source close to the candidate said: “Irfan had given Rs 50 lakh for the renovation of the Van-Khandeshwar temple from his MLA’s fund. They had no problem accepting the money but are now insulting his wife under pressure from BJP leaders.”

He added: “A priest of the temple had assisted her in the rituals. She also went to a gurudwara the same day.”

Chief priest Ram Naresh Mishra said the temple never received any help from Irfan.

“He and his father Mushtaq Solanki never visited the temple. But Naseem came here while campaigning for the by-election. We washed the entire temple with 1,000 litres of holy water from the Ganga (brought from Haridwar) because Hindus didn’t like her act,” he said.

Kanpur Mahanagar MLA Surendra Maithani of the BJP castigated Naseem.

“The Samajwadi Party candidate is trying to woo Hindus as well as Muslims but she appears to be losingboth communities’ support,” he said.

The BJP has in the past opposed temple visits even by Hindu Samajwadi leaders, equating them with Muslims, who are the party’s mainstay along with Yadavs.

Former BJP parliamentarian Subrat Pathak had got the Gaurishankar temple in Kannauj washed after Samajwadi president Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple prayed there in the run-up to this year’s general election.