PTI, AHMEDABAD: BJP president Amit Shah today accused the Congress of indulging in "politics of minority appeasement" during the Gujarat polls as the latter was sure of its defeat. "The Congress first indulged in caste politics. Now, 2-3 days prior to the first phase of voting, when they could see their defeat, the Congress has gone back to politics of minority appeasement," Shah told reporters here.

Shah said it began with the words used by suspended Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar against the prime minister. "Now fact has emerged that former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former vice president Hamid Ansari along with Aiyar had met the Pakistani high commissioner for over three hours without the knowledge of the external affairs ministry. I cannot comprehend the reason for such a meeting," he said.

"A day after the meeting, Aiyar used derogatory language against Modi," he said, wondering what message the Congress was sending through this. Accusing the Congress of minority appeasement, Shah said a spokesperson for the party, Charan Singh, had on television asked the prime minister to visit the Jama Masjid to seek forgiveness for the 2002 Gujarat riots. "The entire country knows that allegations by Congress-backed NGOs against Modi regarding the 2002 riots were rejected by the Supreme Court. But this Congress leader in 2017, for the sake of vote bank politics, is asking Modi to go to the Jama Masjid to apologise for the 2002 riots," Shah said.Shah said the party had deployed its leader Salman Nizami to campaign in Gujarat.