Race watchdogs are investigating alleged racist comments during a Conservative Party rally in Manningham.

People in the mainly Muslim 700-strong audience were allegedly asked to raise their hands to pledge to back Pakistani Muslim candidates above others, whichever party they stood for, it is claimed.

The rally, organised by the Friends of Conservatives, was held to celebrate Eid and back prospective parliamentary candidate Mohammed Riaz, the Tory challenger to Labour incumbent Marsha Singh (Lab, Bradford West), who is Sikh.

Conservative Party vice-chairman Steve Norris was a VIP guest at the function at Manningham Sports Centre in Carlisle Road.

The Commission for Racial Equality today confirmed it was investigating comments by Zahoor Niazi, editor of the Daily Jang newspaper, after a formal complaint from Bridget Maguire, secretary of the Bradford West Constituency Labour Party.

"We have received a complaint and officers are now looking at aspects of the complaint, to see if it falls within the Race Relations Act," said Moh-ammed Amran, a CRE commissioner.

Today Mr Niazi stood by his comments. He said he did not believe he had been racist, and he was simply trying to promote the local Muslim community and argue that they deserved representation at Westminster.

"I am astonished this has gone to the CRE," he said, promising to co-operate with any investigation. "To ask members of the community to support their candidate is not racism. A lot of people congratulated me on the speech."

Marsha Singh said he regretted the fact the racial background of candidates had been raised as an issue. "I have been anti-racist all my life and I will continue to fight for everybody, regardless of background or race," he said. "We have a party system in this country, and we should fight on party lines."

Mohammed Riaz is a former Bradford councillor who, during his stint at City Hall, quit the Labour Party and joined the Conservatives. He said it was natural for the thousands of Pakistani Muslims in Bradford to want to support a candidate who was also Muslim, who would put their case on issues such as the war in Kashmir.

Bradford Council deputy leader, Tory councillor Richard Wightman, said: "The meeting was not divisive and I think it is a spurious exercise to take this to the CRE.

"All the speakers were speaking in support of the properly-adopted prospective candidate for Bradford West, Mohammed Riaz, and I see no problem with that."

Dr Michel Le Lohe, formerly of the politics department at Bradford University, has researched the voting patterns of members of Asian communities in the North.

He said the Conservatives appeared to be trying to mobilise the Muslim vote in both Bradford West and Bradford North by fielding Asian Muslim candidates.

"Obviously the Tories have their eye on Bradford West," he said. "But 65 per cent of the voters in that constituency are white.''