UTTAMJOYPARA (Tripura): An Indian tribal woman displays her finger marked with indelible ink after casting her ballot at a polling station here Saturday during the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha (lower house) elections. — AFP Photo
Prominent Indian artists and academics have written an open letter warning against the possible election of Hindu nationalist politician Narendra Modi, reports BBC.
The letter - signed by writer Salman Rushdie and sculptor Anish Kapoor among others - attacked Mr Modi's record in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Mr Modi, a candidate for the opposition BJP in the current election, is seen as a likely next prime minister.
A BJP spokeswoman dismissed the letter as baseless and "hate-mongering".
"The courts in India have examined all evidence and have found nothing to link Mr Modi to the riots," spokeswoman Nirmala Sitharaman told the BBC.
"If people like Mr Kapoor still talk like this, it raises questions on whether they trust Indian courts."
Mr Modi was cleared by an investigation of any involvement in the 2002 riots, one of India's worst outbreaks of religious violence.
He was chief minister of Gujarat state when more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in attacks that followed the deaths of 60 Hindus in a train fire.
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