Siddaramaiah-Yogi Twitter war gets ugly, beef duel goes viral

Bengaluru: A Twitter war broke out between Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his Karnataka counterpart Siddaramaiah and it went viral, even as the latter escalated attack on the BJP leader by dubbing him a “Jungle Raj” chief minister.

Welcoming Mr Adityanath to Bengaluru on Sunday, Mr Siddaramaiah had tweeted that there’s a lot he can learn from Karnataka to address the reported starvation deaths in his state.

“I welcome UP CM Shri @myogiadityanath to our state. There is a lot you can learn from us sir. When you are here please visit an Indira Canteen & a ration shop. It will help you address the starvation deaths sometimes reported from your state. #YogiInBengaluru,” Mr Siddaramaiah had tweeted.

Mr Adityanath promptly responded. Thanking Mr Siddaramaiah for the welcome, he cited an increase in farmers’ suicides and alleged ill-treatment of honest government officials under the Congress dispensation.

“Thank you for the welcome @siddaramaiah ji. I heard number of farmers committing suicide in Karnataka was highest in your regime, not to mention the numerous deaths and transfer of honest officers.”

“As UP CM I am working to undo the misery and lawlessness unleashed by your allies,” Mr Adityanath had tweeted.

The “welcome” barb between both the chief ministers has gone viral, with supporters of political parties they represent taking sides and trolling each other with hashtags “#YogiInBengaluru” and “#HogappaYogi” (go Yogi).

A day after Mr Adityanath mocked Mr Siddaramaiah’s assertion about his Hindu credentials, the Karnataka chief minister said that the Hindutva that he follows is the legacy of Swami Vivekananda and not Nathuram Godse, assassin of Mahatma Gandhi.

“Ours is a Hindutva that follows the legacy of Vivekananda, not Godse. Let chief minister Yogi Adityanath read what Vivekanada has said before lecturing us about ban on cow slaughter,” Mr Siddaramaiah said in a tweet in Kannada.

Calling Mr Adityanath “a Jungle Raj chief minister” while speaking to reporters at Byndoor in Udupi district, Mr Siddaramaiah said, “We need not learn from him.”

“We need not learn from them (BJP) about Hindutva, they are followers of Nathuram Godse, we need not learn from them,” he said.

The UP chief minister, while speaking at the “Nava Karnataka Parivartan Yatre” rally organised by the Karnataka unit of the BJP here on Sunday, had taken a jibe at Mr Siddaramaiah for recalling his Hindu roots ahead of Assembly elections later this year.

Mr Siddaramaiah calls himself a Hindu just as Congress president Rahul Gandhi went to temple after temple during the Gujarat Assembly elections, Mr Adityanath had claimed, adding that “calling himself a Hindu will not suffice till he continues to endorse eating of beef”. This was Mr Adityanath’s second visit to the state in less than a month to campaign for the party. He had last addressed a similar rally in Hubballi on December 21, 2017. The fresh salvo fired by Mr Siddaramaiah on Monday came after the two were engaged in the Twitter war.

Mr Adityanath also attacked Mr Siddaramaiah personally for endorsing beef eating. In another tweet late on Monday evening, Mr Siddaramaiah asked under which authority the BJP leaders questioning people’s food habits but added that he didn’t eat beef because he didn’t like it. Mr Siddaramaiah said, “Who are these people to question our food habits. Many among the Hindus consume beef. If I want to eat, I will eat. Who are these people to tell me not to eat. But I don’t like beef, so I don’t eat it.”

He also said that he had reared cows and asked whether Mr Adityanath, who lectures about cow protection, had done the same. “What moral right does he have to speak about cow protection?” asked Mr Siddaramaiah.