Lucknow : Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has landed into a controversy with his comments counting Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, among freedom icons of India. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday lashed out at Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav for speaking against India’s first deputy prime minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Pakistan’s Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the same breath.
Referring to the remarks made by Akhilesh Yadav, CM Yogi said that it was shameful of him to compare Jinnah with Sardar Patel. He further said it is this “Talibani mentality” that divides the people.
“The Samajwadi Party chief yesterday compared Jinnah to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. This is shameful. It’s a Talibani mentality that believes in dividing. Sardar Patel united the country. Presently, under the leadership of the Prime Minister [Narendra Modi], work is underway to achieve ‘Ek Bharat, Shresth Bharat’,” news agency ANI quoted Adityanath as saying.
Yadav made the remarks while addressing a public meeting in Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi on Sunday, also the day when India celebrated the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
“Sardar Patel, Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and (Muhammad Ali) Jinnah studied in the same institute and became barristers. They helped (India) get freedom and never backed away from any struggle,” the SP leader said.
Yadav’s remark prompted criticism from a number of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Sunday. “Why is Akhilesh Yadav praising Muhammad Ali Jinnah on the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel?” BJP’s Uttar Pradesh unit chief Swatantra Dev Singh said in a tweet in Hindi.
BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Brij Lal also attacked Akhilesh Yadav in a video message.
“SP chief Akhilesh Yadav compared Iron Man (Sardar Patel) with Jinnah. Akhilesh Yadav must read history. Jinnah was involved in the mass murder of Hindus and also in the partition of the country. A day before the Sardar Patel anniversary, your father (Mulayam Singh Yadav) on October 30, 1990, had fired on Ram devotees in Ayodhya, and mother Saryu (river) became red,” Lal said.
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