Mufti Shah Sadruddin, who believes in the notion of Islamic states, has no known previous links to the Tories, and has been an enthusiastic supporter of Respect MP George Galloway.
The Conservative party in the east London borough has also selected two other candidates who have previously stood for socialist Respect.
London Mayor Boris Johnson has been briefed on the situation and is understood to be concerned the party is being exploited as a vehicle of convenience.
Mr Sadruddin has been using his Facebook page to urge all Muslims to vote for any party that stands the best chance of ousting the borough’s incumbent directly elected mayor, Labour’s Sir Robin Wales.
Anonymous leafelts have been circulating in the borough listing the Muslim candidates people should vote for, regardless of party.
A central theme of Mr Sadruddin’s campaign is his desire to punish Sir Robin for his opposition to the Mega Mosque project, which is also known as the London Markaz.
Sir Robin was opposed to the construction of the Markaz, believing it to be too large.
The current mosque on the site in Abbey Mills, West Ham, has enough space for 2,500 worshippers but its owners, the fundamentalist India-based Islamic sect Tablighi Jamaat, applied for an extension on the site it owns to make it one of the largest in Europe.
Its aim was a building big enough for 12,000 worshippers.
Newham Council was opposed to the plans because it believed the mosque was too large and a committee rejected the plans at the end of 2012.
The council then asked the owners to uphold a commitment to demolish the existing mosque and clear the site.
The owners refused and a High Court order was issued in the council’s favour last year.
The owners have appealed the order and the Court of Appeal is due to make a decision within days.
Separately, at the request of Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, a Planning Inspectorate inquiry into the original application is due start in June.
Labour council leaders believe the site, which is an up-and-coming development area next to West Ham Tube station, should have a greater mix of housing and retail space.
They have not ruled out the possibility of a smaller mosque there and Labour officials have been in private talks with the owners over a compromise.
However, Mr Sadruddin, an Islamic teacher, remains at the forefront of a campaign to urge Muslims to vote Sir Robin out.
Tories in east London are worried their party is being used and privately question how Mr Sadruddin was selected to stand in the Green Street West ward.
He is regarded by many Muslims in east London as a respected scholar, but a simple internet search by senior Tories would have rung alarm bells about whether he was a natural Conservative.
He chairs the Newham People’s Alliance and videos on YouTube show him rapturously applauding George Galloway at a rally he hosted for the MP last year.
At the Mega Mosque protest outside Stratford Town Hall in 2012, he is seen on another YouTube video raging about the lack of a common Muslim political identity.
He calls for a non-violent “revolution” and urges Muslims blockade the town hall, and tries to summon the spirit of Cairo’s Tahrir Square in Egypt.
He also refers to “the gays” and says that because Jews “have this Holocaust”, Muslims should fight for “rights”.
He says: “We have to create a revolution for our rights. The gays can get their rights…but when Islam is being abused we can’t even save it.
“We have 50 million Muslims in Europe, we are good for nothing.
“The Jewish community, they have their anti-Semitism, they have this Holocaust.
“The gays got these gay rights but any Tom, Dick, Harry can make a movie, Satanic Verses…but we are 1.5billion Muslims but we are not politically powerful.
“Block the roads of Newham just like Tahrir Square.”
In other video material he is seen lamenting the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971, and harking after Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws, whose penalties include execution.
“Even Britain has a blasphemy law,” he is seen incorrectly telling worshippers at a mosque. “We are sleeping, brothers.”
In another film, he says: “The greatest threat to Islam is through the removal of Islamic politics.
“The Islamic state is the greatest contribution to humanity.
“Only politics can unite the Muslim Ummah [brotherhood]. Politics is the tool which can unite the Muslims and the Ummah.”
Messages posted on his Facebook page say: “Every single Muslim resident of Newham is now obliged to vote out Robin Wales at any cost.”
Express.co.uk left several messages with both Mr Sadruddin and the Conservative party in Newham, but no one responded.
A spokeswoman for the Conservatives’ national headquarters said she was unable to answer questions on vetting procedures and for how long Mr Sadruddin had been a party member.
She said they were matters for the local party.
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