In a befitting response to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s ‘not a true yogi’ remark, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Tuesday, said he was a yogi and the nation was his priority.
“From the past three days, I have been listening to Kharge ji’s comments. I am a yogi and nation comes first for me. For you (Kharge) Congress appeasement politics comes first,” said Adityanath while addressing a rally in poll-bound Maharashtra’s Achalpur.
Taking his party’s (BJP) ‘katenge toh batenge’ slogan forward, he said, “If we are divided, then Ganapati pooja would be attacked, lands would be grabbed under Land Jihad, safety of daughters would be in danger. There is no Love Jihad or Land Jihad in UP today.”
In a no-holds-barred attack on Adityanath on Monday, Kharge said a “true yogi” would never make remarks like “batenge toh katenge” (if divided, we will be wiped out) and “this language is used by terrorists”.
Congress Reacts
Responding to Yogi Adityanath’s comeback, senior Congress leader Pawan Khera told CNN-News18 that Congress was all about Bharat Jodo, but BJP was into ‘Bharat Todo’.
Accusing the Congress president of appeasement politics he said, “When Kharge’s native village, Baramati (under erstwhile Hyderabad), was burnt, he lost his mother, aunt, and sister. Kharge ji does not want to tell the truth because he feels that if he blames the Nizam, the Muslim votes will slip away. For the sake of the vote bank, he forgot the sacrifice of his family.”
Khera responded to it, saying, “Yogi has no idea that Kharge has mentioned the incident involving his family several times.”
Kharge’s initial comments during recent political rallies had also sparked a political storm when he, without taking names, tagetted Yogi Adityanath saying, “Many leaders live in the guise of sadhus and have now become politicians. Some have even become chief ministers. They wear ‘gerua’ clothes and have no hair on their heads… I would say to the BJP, either wear white clothes or, if you are a sanyasi, wear ‘gerua’ clothes, but then get out of politics.”
BJP’s Response
Calling the Congress “anti-Hindu” and “anti-Sanatan”, the BJP said the party is the only one to talk about “saffron terrorism” and “Hindu terror”. It said while Kharge is saying how Adityanath’s gerua attire should not be brought into politics, he would not say the same about Muslim religious leaders.
“This is the true philosophy and DNA of the Congress, which is anti-Hindu and anti-Sanatan. Therefore, the Congress is now saying those who wear gerua and saffron, the clothes of a sadhu should not come into politics but will they ever say this about maulana and maulvi?” said BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on the Congress president’s statement.
The elections for the 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra will take place in a single phase on November 20, with the vote count scheduled for November 23.