Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Sunil Kumar on Monday called the upcoming Assembly election fight between the Congress and BJP candidates a contest between Allah and Ram, local TV channels reported.

Kumar, who represents Karkala in communally-sensitive coastal Karnataka, was speaking at a rally in Dakshina Kannada district’s Bantwal.

Kumar said the sitting MLA, Congress’ Ramanath Rai, always speaks about how he won power because of the support of the Muslim community, News18 reported. “Who does Bantwal want?” Kumar said at the rally. “The contest is not between [BJP’s] Rajesh Naik and Ramanath Rai...This is a contest between Allah and Rama,” he said, to loud applause.

The BJP leader said a decision had to be made. “Will we give the vote again and again to Allah or to someone who loves Rama? This is the election issue here in Bantwal,” he said, according to TV9.

Calling it a “matter of respect”, Kumar said, “We cannot have a man who says he does not care about the votes of Hindus.” He added that this was not an issue that only concerns Bantwal but the whole district of Mangalore.

Rai responded to the statement saying he will approach the Election Commission about the Bharatiya Janata Party using religion as a campaign trick.