The BJP has been criticised for its ties to right-wing Hindu nationalists - Reuters/File photo.

BHUBANESWAR Indian police Tuesday arrested a Hindu nationalist politician for an alleged anti-Christian hate speech at a poll rally in Orissa state, which was hit by Hindu-Christian riots last year, AFP reported.

Ashok Sahu, a member of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was charged with promoting hostility between communities during an election meeting in Kandhamal district, the centre of violence that erupted in August.

The riots were sparked by the murder of a revered Hindu holy man, whose killing was blamed on Christians.

In his speech on April 5, Sahu, a former police officer, allegedly justified the riots in which Christian groups say more than 100 people were massacred by rampaging Hindu mobs.

`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,` he reportedly told supporters.

Sahu was detained at Phulbani town, 220 kilometres (140 miles) from the state capital Bhubaneshwar, Pravin Kumar, police superintendent of the area said.

The arrest came after India`s election officials ordered Orissa state to slap criminal charges on Sahu, who is the BJP`s candidate for the Kandhamal constituency.

Orissa goes to the polls in two phases on April 16 and 23 as part of India`s mammoth five-stage national elections slated to end on May 13.

Thousands of Christians still live in state-run relief camps after Hindu mobs burned their houses, churches, orphanages and schools in the impoverished state.