New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's call for unity among Hindus with the slogan 'Katenge to Batenge' appears to have become a source of worry in the Maha Yuti Alliance in Maharashtra just before Maharashtra goes to the hustings. NCP Chief and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has publically spoken against this slogan while his compatriot Devendra Fadnavis has defended it.
Fadnavis said that it will take time for Ajit Pawar to understand the public's mood as had stayed with anti-Hindu idealogies for a long time.
"For decades, Ajit Pawar has stayed with such ideologies which are secular and anti-Hindu. There is no real secularism amongst those who call themselves as secularists. He has stayed with people for whom opposing Hindutva is secularism. There is no real secularism among those who call themselves secular," Fadnavis was quoted by news agency ANI.
"It will take some time for him to understand the mood of the public. These people either did not understand the sentiments of the public or did not understand the statement or they probably wanted to say something else," he added.
Fadnavis said that there was nothing wrong with the slogan given by Yogi Adityanath and stated that it had been the history of the country.
"I don't see anything wrong in Yogi ji's slogans. Look at the history of this country. Jab Jab bate hai tab gulam bane hai. Whenever this country was divided into castes, states, divided into communities society we became slaves. The country was also divided, and so were the people. That's why if we divide, we will be cut. This is the history of this country," Fadnavis said.
"And I don't understand that if someone says don't divide, then what is the point of objecting to this?" he added. The slogan has also been widely condemned by the opposition leaders, claiming communal overtones in it. The slogan was given by CM Yogi while speaking at a campaign rally in Maharashtra. After which, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the slogan 'ek hai toh safe hai'.
The Mahayuti alliance comprises the Bhartaiya Janata Party (BJP) the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP. It is up against Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which comprises of Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Maharashtra will go to polls on November 20 with votes being counted on November 23.
