Srinagar: Sparking a communal controversy just ahead of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, a legislator of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Peer Mansoor has asked the people not to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as it will impose a Hindu chief minister on the state.

Mansoor made this statement at a rally in South Kashmir saying that it will be a curse for the people of Kashmir if they voted for BJP. “People should not to vote for parties who plan to foist a Hindu chief minister in Jammu and Kashmir which would be a curse for the Kashmiris,” he said.

Soon after his statement came to light, the BJP appealed to the Election Commission to take action against such communal propaganda. “We request the Election Commission to take strict action against such leaders who are playing communal card. This is not good for the integrity of the country,” BJP Spokesperson Khalid Jehangir said.

Meanwhile, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti distanced herself from the statement saying that she had no clue that anyone had made such remarks. “I don’t know who said that, I haven’t heard it,” she said.

Mansoor is a sitting MLA from from Shangus town in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. The PDP has also fielded him for the upcoming assembly elections in the state.