Agencies/Lucknow

Uttar Pradesh police yesterday charged ruling Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah over a speech that allegedly inflamed religious tensions during the national election campaign, an officer said.

Shah was charged for the speech he made at a rally in Uttar Pradesh that was torn apart last year by deadly Muslim-Hindu riots.

“The charge-sheet against Amit Shah has been filed by the investigating officer,” deputy superintendent of police Yogendra Singh said in Muzaffarnagar where the riots occurred.

Shah, a key confidante of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was credited for his role in the BJP winning a landslide victory at the elections in May over the Congress Party.

Police filed the charge-sheet yesterday in a court in Muzaffarnagar, under sections of the criminal code that include making a statement that intends to cause religious outrage.

The charges also include promoting tensions between different religious groups and appealing for votes on religious grounds, police officer Singh said.

Shah, who was chief strategist in the electorally critical state of Uttar Pradesh during the campaign, was not present in court to hear the charges.

In his speech, Shah reportedly told a crowd of largely Hindu voters that it was time to seek revenge by casting their ballots at the national election.

He branded the then Congress government as one “that protects and gives compensation to those who killed Hindus.”

More than 50 people were killed in the sectarian unrest in Muzaffarnagar district, where several BJP members also faced investigation of inciting violence against minority Muslims.

The speech was seen by political rivals at the time as an attempt to polarise voting along religious lines in the country.

A BJP spokesman said the charges were a political vendetta against Shah, 50, who had done “nothing wrong.”

“This is pure and pure political vendetta by the state government,” BJP spokesman Ram Madhav said.

“We will deal with it politically.”

The BJP also defended the speech at the time that he made it, saying asking for revenge through voting was not inflammatory.

The Aam Aadmi Party described as “delayed but right” the decision of Uttar Pradesh police.

The party also said the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh allowed Shah “to vitiate the atmosphere in the state.

If the charges are proved, the BJP president could face a prison term of three years.

Shah was appointed BJP president shortly after the election, and was credited with delivering victory for Modi in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state.

He has faced controversy in the past dating back to his time as home minister of Gujarat, where Modi ran the state government for close to 13 years.

Shah, who has known Modi since the 1980s, has been charged over allegedly ordering extra-judicial killings and extortion while in Gujarat.

He has always denied wrongdoing.

Modi himself has also faced severe criticism over sectarian riots in Gujarat in 2002 when he was chief minister that left more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead.

Modi has denied claims by critics that he failed to stop the bloodshed, while a Supreme Court panel investigation has cleared him of any wrongdoing.