New Delhi: In the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, chief minister and Bhartiya Janata Party leader Adityanath tweeted another divisive message in the early hours of Friday, January 28.
Seemingly targeting the opposition, Adityanath tweeted in Hindi, “They are devotees of ‘Jinnah’, while we are worshippers of ‘Sardar Patel’. To them, Pakistan is dear, we sacrifice our lives to Maa Bharati”.
वे 'जिन्ना' के उपासक है, हम 'सरदार पटेल' के पुजारी हैं।
उनको पाकिस्तान प्यारा है, हम माँ भारती पर जान न्योछावर करते हैं।
— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) January 28, 2022
The tweet has been the latest in a line of communal remarks and dog whistles used by the Bharatiya Janata Party for their election campaign, and for targeting the opposition.
On November 13, 2021, BJP leader and Union home minister Amit Shah used a similar remark to target the Samajwadi Party by invoking Jinnah as a point of comparison with the ruling BJP. “BJP has given people ‘JAM’ – Jandhan, Aadhar and Mobile – but the SP leaders also claim to offer ‘JAM’ – Jinnah, Azam Khan and Mukhtar (Ansari),” Shah had said in a political rally in Azamgarh, the Lok Sabha seat of Akhilesh Yadav and a stronghold of the Samajwadi Party.
Akhilesh Yadav, head of the Samajwadi Party, has been targeted by BJP in the last few months, with BJP eager to portray him as a supporter of Jinnah. National spokesperson for the BJP, Sambit Patra, also tweeted once, “Those who love Jinnah, how can they reject Pakistan?”. This was in response to Yadav’s interview on Economic Times, in which he called Pakistan a political enemy and China the ‘real enemy’ of India, and accused the BJP of targeting Pakistan for the sake of vote politics alone.
The head of BJP’s ‘IT cell’ Amit Malviya had shared a truncated video, claiming that Yadav had said that Jinnah won freedom for India. However, the video was taken out of context from a speech of Yadav’s in October 2021, at an event in Hardoi, commemorating the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
On October 31, ANI posted a video of Yadav’s full speech, where his complete remarks can be heard. He states, “Sardar Patel used to make decisions keeping in mind the situation on the ground. He would only make decisions after gaining a proper understanding of what was happening at the grassroots level. That’s why he is known as the Iron Man of India. Sardar Patel, Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and [Muhammad Ali] Jinnah became barristers after attending the same institution. They got freedom for India. They did not back down from any struggles. It was Iron Man of India Sardar Patel who imposed a ban on an ideology (RSS).”
Malviya tweeted only the portion in which Yadav says, ““Jinnah became a barrister after studying in the same institution. He obtained his education and served as a barrister in the same place. He got freedom for India. He did not back down from any struggle…”
As the elections draw closer amidst inflation and poor economic conditions, communal issues are being kept alive as well. A sitting BJP MLA and candidate has used slogans such as “Na Ali, na Bahubali, keval Bajrang Bali” (Neither Ali nor Bahubali, only Bajrang Bali). Another attended an event that featured calls for ‘the end of Islam’.
The UP assembly elections are slated to be held from February 10 to March 7, 2022.