New Delhi, Jun 12 (IANS): As protests were reported across several parts of the country over the BJP leaders' remarks on Prophet Muhammad, Lok Sabha Member Gautam Gambhir on Sunday said that vote bank politics is in play in certain states where rioters have created havoc with impunity.

On Friday, protests were witnessed in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Ranchi, Ahmedabad, Navi Mumbai, Ludhiana, Hyderabad and Jammu & Kashmir with the agitators demanding action and arrest of the suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and her former party colleague Naveen Kumar Jindal. The BJP has suspended Sharma and expelled Jindal from the party.

Cricketer-turned-politician, Gambhir said that nobody has supported the statements made by Sharma.

Gambhir said: "The party has taken strict disciplinary action against her and she has unequivocally apologised for the same. The blatant display of hatred, death threats against her and her family and coordinated rioting in different parts of the country is a cause of concern."

"Even more astonishing is the silence of those secular liberals who blame our party for so-called intolerance. It is clear that vote bank politics is in play in certain states where rioters have created havoc with impunity," Gambhir said.

Gambhir, the BJP's Lok Sabha member from East Delhi, has lauded the actions taken by the Uttar Pradesh government to control the situation and to discourage such behaviour.

"This kind of behaviour cannot be tolerated in the 21st century India," he added.