Yogi rakes up Jinnah again; slams 'supporters of Pakistan'

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath sought to target Samajwadi Party and its president Akhilesh Yadav, by calling them supporters of Pakistan and “worshippers of Jinnah”.

Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, is blamed for the division of India into two countries upon Independence.

In a series of tweets, Adityanath also sought to draw a contrast between his and the SP government’s treatment of Hindus, a strong vote bank of the BJP.

“They are worshippers of Jinnah. We are worshippers of Sardar Patel. Pakistan is dear to them, we will sacrifice our life for Maa Bharati (Mother India),” Adityanath said in a Hindi tweet without taking any name.

“When they were (in power), Ram devotees were fired upon. Kanwar Yatras were cancelled. Exploits like Safai Mahotsav took place. When we are (in power)…dream of Sri Ramlala Virajman came true, flowers were showered from a helicopter on ‘kanwariyas’. Deepotsav and Rangotsav become the identity of Uttar Pradesh,” he said.

The BJP leader was referring to the firing on “kar sevaks” in Ayodhya during the SP regime in Uttar Pradesh, when Akhilesh’s father Mulayam Singh Yadav was the chief minister of the state.

Akhilesh Yadav had a few days back said that the BJP targets Pakistan only for “vote politics”. In an interview with a daily, the former chief minister had said BJP had promised several big things with regard to Pakistan and PoK but on the ground, they had done nothing.

Also read: Jinnah row in UP: Akhilesh tells critics to ‘read the books again’

Akhilesh had also mentioned Jinnah a few months back while speaking about leaders of the freedom fight movement, and had referred to Jawaharlal Nehru and Jinnah as barristers who fought for India’s independence. The BJP had sought to know why Akhilesh was “praising Jinnah”, as the right-wing Hindutva groups blame Jinnah for India’s partition.

In the same speech, Akhilesh had also recalled how Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had done so much to unite several parts of India. But today, the BJP uses Patel as an icon even as it goes on dividing the country.

Akhilesh also sought to remind that while Patel had struggled a lot for the farmers, the BJP today brought three anti-farmer laws, and targeted farmers.

Adityanath on the other hand has been targeting his main rival on religious lines, even calling Mulayam “abbajaan” (Urdu word for father), to indicate that the SP leader was favourable to the Muslims.

He has also said that the election will be an 80-vs-20 fight, in reference to the religious composition of UP’s population.

Experts believe that the language of political leaders will become more polarising as polling for the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh draws near.

However, Defence Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh has said that invoking Jinnah during elections should stop.

“I do not know why Pakistan’s founder Jinnah’s name is often invoked during elections. Those who want to politicise this… in UP’s politics, Jinnah’s name should not be invoked. Instead, we should talk of farmers,” he had said in Modinagar (Ghaziabad) during the party’s door-to-door campaign.