A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politician has been arrested in India for allegedly making an anti-Christian hate speech at a rally in the state of Orissa.

Ashok Sahu was charged with promoting hostility between communities at an election meeting in Kandhamal district.

Kandhamal was one of the areas worst affected by last year's anti-Christian violence sparked by the murder of a Hindu nationalist leader.

The BJP, which is India’s main opposition party to the Indian National Congress, has been criticised for inflaming divisions ahead of the general election, which is due to start on 16 April.

Another BJP leader, Varun Gandhi, was arrested for threatening to cut off the hands of anyone who threatened the Hindu majority population of India.

Speaking on 5 April, Sahu said that last year’s riots, which killed dozens of Christians, were justified as Christians had been responsible for the murder of Hindu leader Swami Lakshmanananda, even though Maoist rebels claimed responsibility for the killing.

He said, "Who killed Swamiji? Did he not know that there would be dire consequences for such an act? If I say it too often, I am accused of being communal and blamed for spreading communal hatred," reports AFP.

Sahu is running as the BJP candidate for the Kandhamal constituency. The elections will run from 16 April to 13 May.

Thousands of Christians are still living in government camps and are unable to return to their homes, either because they have been destroyed or because they face death or violence if they do not convert to Hinduism.

"Elections are taking place at a time when 3,187 people are still in relief camps, and hundreds are believed to have fled the district. The district administration reportedly sent the people in relief camps back to the villages, sometimes forcibly, with dry ration which may last for a few days. The victims who returned have faced social boycott and threats to their lives and property," said Dr Richard Howell, General Secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India.