Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday compared Pakistan’s Muhammad Ali Jinnah with Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, saying they all fought for India’s independence.
“Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and (Muhammad Ali) Jinnah studied in the same institute. They became barristers and fought for India’s freedom,” ANI quoted Akhilesh Yadav as saying at a public rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi.
“It was Iron Man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who imposed a ban on an ideology,” Akhilesh Yadav said, in an oblique reference to the RSS.
Akhilesh Yadav also attacked the Congress, saying there is no difference between the grand old party and the BJP.
“Investigation of Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that is going on against us and other leaders is because of Congress only. There is no difference between them (BJP and Congress). Congress is BJP and BJP is Congress,” ANI quoted him as saying.
The Samajwadi Party is tied up with the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, which has influence over the Rajbhar voters of Poorvanchal, for next year’s Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
BJP condemns Akhilesh Yadav’s statement
Reacting to Akhilesh Yadav’s statement, BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said, “Mulayam Singh ji [Akhilesh Yadav’s father] will also hold his head after hearing this from Akhilesh Yadav, who has studied in Australia. The country considers Muhammad Ali Jinnah as the villain of the partition. Calling Jinnah the hero of freedom is the politics of Muslim appeasement.”
UP’s Minister of State for Minority Welfare Mohsin Raza said, “By saying that the ideology of the divisive Jinnah is the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Akhilesh ji has insulted the great men of the country.”
“The country should understand that who are those in our country demanding “Jinnah Wali Azadi” who are expecting votes from Jinnah’s relatives,” he added.
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