NEW DELHI: As opposition continued to target the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s slogan ‘Batenge toh katenge‘ (will be slaughtered, if divided), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday gave a new pitch in Maharashtra — ‘Ek hai toh safe hai‘ (We are safe, only if united).
Accusing the Congress of pitting one caste against another, PM Modi in an election rally in Dhule asked people to stay united, saying “Ek hai, toh safe hai.”
“The sole agenda of the Congress party is to make one caste fight against another. They do not want SCs, STs and OBCs to progress and get their due recognition … Remember, ‘Ek hai toh safe hai‘,” he said.
PM’ new slogan comes amid row over Yogi Adityanath’s ‘Batenge toh katenge‘ pitch. The expression was first used by the UP CM at a rally in Agra in the backdrop of Hindu minorities being subjected to violence in Bangladesh. Later, PM Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat also made similar pitches for Hindu unity later. During his annual Vijaya Dashami speech this year, Bhagwat said that “being unorganised and weak is like inviting atrocities by the wicked”.
Yogi Adityanath had also repeated the slogan during an election rally in Maharashtra while campaigning for ruling-Mahayuti.
In his first campaign rally in Maharashtra for the upcoming November 20 assembly elections, PM Modi opened an all-front attack on Congress and stated that since Nehru’s era, the party and his family has opposed reservation, and now their fourth generation ‘yuvraj’ [Rahul Gandhi] is promoting caste divisions.
“Since Nehru’s time Congress and his family opposed reservation and now their fourth generation ‘yuvraj’ (prince) is working for caste divisions,” Modi said.
He alleged that the Congress-led INDIA bloc sought to remove the Constitution from Jammu and Kashmir, whilst firmly stating that Article 370’s restoration was impossible under any circumstances.
The Prime Minister also accused the coalition of misleading Dalits and Adivasis by presenting blank books as the Constitution.
He cautioned Congress and its allies against promoting “Pakistan agenda” or using separatist rhetoric, asserting that such efforts would fail as long as he had public support.
“Only Ambedkar’s constitution will be followed in J&K. You must have seen on TV how a resolution was moved in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly on bringing back Article 370 and when BJP MLAs protested, they were thrown out. The country and Maharashtra should understand this,” Modi said.
Kharge targets BJP for UP CM’s slogan; Ajit Pawar distances himself
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday accused the BJP of having some “rotten thoughts” for believing in ‘Batenge toh katenge‘.
“The BJP has some rotten thoughts, it believes in ‘Batenge toh katenge‘,” Kharge had said while addressing an election rally in Ranchi.
Meanwhile, NCP chief Ajit Pawar indirectly distanced himself from UP CM’s slogan saying that people from ‘outside’ make such statements, but Maharashtra has always maintained communal harmony. “Nobody should compare Maharashtra with the other states. People here have always ensured communal harmony. Some from outside come here and make statements, but Maharashtra has never accepted any communal division. The state follows the secular ideology of Shahu (Maharaj), (Jyotiba) Phule, and (Babasaheb) Ambedkar,” he said.