The Indian Union Muslim League on Saturday urged the Election Commission to take action against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath for comparing the Muslim League to a virus, PTI reported. The party said it does not need a certificate of its nationalism or patriotism from anyone.

The IUML’s national general secretary PK Kunhalikutty said he had lodged a complaint against the BJP leader his tweet. “The IUML is a recognised party in Kerala and has a long history of upholding the secular democratic ethos of our Constitution,” he said in a statement.

“Today, faced with several of their own senior leaders coming out together to expose the BJP’s dangerous and devious designs, to cause tensions in the country, the frustrated and discredited elements like Yogi [Adityanath] are trying to malign our progressive political forces”, he said.

Kunhalikutty urged the Election Commission to take appropriate action against forces that are out to ‘tarnish the image and secular credentials” of the IUML. The agenda of creating divisive politics by such forces in the country would not succeed, he claimed.

On Friday, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader called the Muslim League a virus that divided the country during the independence movement. The Bharatiya Janata Party leader had said that the Opposition Congress has “been infected with the virus” and cautioned people against the party.

In a series of tweets, Adityanath said the “virus will spread” if the Congress and its allies are voted to power. “In the fight for Independence in 1857, the entire nation fought alongside Mangal Pandey,” Adityanath had tweeted. “After that, the virus of Muslim league spread across the country to the extent that it caused the partition of the country. The same threat is looming over the country today. Green flags (of Indian Union Muslim League) are fluttering again. Congress is infected with the virus of Muslim league, be careful.”