Political parties lash out at Adityanath's 'Abba Jaan' jibe & his divisive politics

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath gave a taste of what is to come in the upcoming months ahead of the state polls early next year, when he made a nasty jibe at a recent public rally in Kushinagar district about people who use the word ‘Abba Jaan’ (father in Urdu) while referring to appeasement politics in the state.

Political parties quickly lashed out at him accusing him of “communally polarising” the Assembly elections to be held in February next year.

In the public meeting, the saffron-clad CM asked people whether they had got ration before 2017? And said that all those who say ‘abba jaan’ used to consume all the ration (Abba Jaan kehne wale sara ration hajam kar lete the) in the state until the BJP took over the reins. The CM was reportedly making a dig at earlier ruling regimes of the Samajwadi party and BSP, who he claimed had given preference to the Muslims, reported Deccan Herald.

His speech raked up a controversy with National Conference leader Omar Abdullah calling it “blatant communalism”. In his twitter post, Abdullah said that he had always maintained that the BJP has no intention of fighting any election with an agenda other than blatant communalism and hatred with all the venom directed towards Muslims. “Here is a CM seeking re-election claiming that Muslims ate up all the rations meant for Hindus,” mocked the political leader.

Also read: Adityanath’s advt on UP’s growth carries Kolkata flyover; TMC finds it ironic

While a senior SP leader condemning his remarks said that the BJP has nothing to show to the people and the state government has done precious little for the common people. As the poll draws nearer, the saffron party leaders are trying to divide the people along communal lines, said the leader, reported the DH. Most political parties lashed out the CM for playing playing divisive politics.

The Congress accused him of trying to divert attention from the real issues plaguing the state and was more intent on pursuing ‘politics of words’ (Baat Bahadur) and doing nothing for the development of UP.

This is the second time Adityanath is using this term in a derogatory manner. Earlier, he had called the SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav as the SP President Akhilesh Yadav’s ‘Abha Jaan’. That was his retort when he was told that Akhilesh is a more devout Hindu than the BJP leaders. This prompted Akhilesh to warn Adityanath to be careful with his choice of words.

BJP leaders, however, defended their Adityanath saying that he was only trying to make it clear that the state government did not differentiate on the basis of religion. All eyes will be on this crucial election in February. In the 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP had bagged 312 out of the 403 assembly seats in the state on its own.