Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav on Monday came out in support of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s “khoon ki dalaali” remarks against the Narendra Modi government.
Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav on Monday came out in support of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s “khoon ki dalaali” remarks against the Narendra Modi government. “I have good relations with Rahul Gandhi, and if he has used such words, he must have thought it through,” he said. Mr Gandhi had, last week, accused the BJP of trying to take political advantage out of the Army’s surgical strikes across the LoC.
Mr Yadav’s comments are being perceived as a sign of a possible political realignment ahead of next year’s Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, where political pundits have been speculating about a tie-up between Mayawati’s BSP and the Congress.
The BJP’s national president, Amit Shah, had accused Mr Gandhi of “crossing all limits” of political discourse and insulting the Army’s valour by his remarks, cautioned the Opposition parties including the SP against opposing “national interest” in their quest to target Mr Modi.
The BJP, which itself is facing criticism for using the recent surgical strikes for political gains, said opposition parties must introspect what political gains they are achieving at the cost of the morale of the armed forces.
“Congress ka pata nahi par Rahul ji se hamare sambandh acche hain, unho ne kaha (khoon ki dalali) toh kuch soch ke hi kaha hoga (Not sure about Congress but I have good relations with Rahul Gandhi, and if he has used such words he must have thought thoroughly before saying so),” Mr Akhilesh Yadav told reporters in Lucknow while launching a free smartphone scheme. This is the first time that the UP CM has come out to support Mr Gandhi.
The two had been almost mocking each other till a few months ago when Mr Gandhi said that Akhilesh is a good boy but could not do much work, at a programme in Lucknow.
Reacting to the remark, the chief minister said, “Rahul is also a good boy.” Later, in a TV show, Mr Yadav said that if Mr Gandhi had termed him a good leader, he would have also termed him a good leader instead of a good boy.
After Mr Yadav’s comments, BJP’s Siddharth Nath Singh said “We have no objection if you oppose BJP or Modi. But if in your quest to oppose Modi, you should not oppose the interest of the country.... You must introspect what political gains you are achieving at the cost of the morale of the armed forces.”
Targeting other parties, he said the likes of AAP, Congress, SP and BSP are raising the issue of surgical strikes when the armed forces continue to fight Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.
Citing the comments of Pakistan NSA Sartaj Aziz that a breakthrough in ties with India was not possible under Mr Modi, he said it was a language also used by Congress leaders as he referred to the remarks of Mani Shankar Aiyar and Salman Khurshid.
“The mindsets of Congress and Pakistan seem to be identical as far as Indo-Pak relation is concerned,” Mr Singh alleged.
