Farmers Movement Archive

Congress pursuing same divisive politics that led to India's partition, says Yogi Adityanath

LUCKNOW: Leading the charge against former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for his comment about the difference between the nature of politics of Kerala and the north India, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the divisive politics of the Congress had already led to the partition of the country, but the party was still pursuing the same destructive politics. Speaking on the motion of thanks in the legislative assembly on Wednesday, Yogi said that the Congress leader was creating a divide within the nation by praising the southern region and criticising the north, which had elected him an MP four times in the past, without naming Rahul Gandhi. Again targeting the Congress leadership, he said, “They tell the US ambassador that the real danger is not from Lashkar-e Taiba but from organisations within the country,” adding "they have no right to sully the image of the country outside." He also said that when Indian jawans were fighting against China on the borders, the Congress questioned the bravery and valor of the Indian army. "This will not be tolerated," he said in his 2.34-hour speech, claiming that it was unfortunate that Uttar Pradesh was being criticized by the Congress leadership which had given so many leaders to the party in the past. Next, targeting Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, he said “she does tweets only from Delhi and then she retreats and deletes after she realizes her fault.” Referring to her recent visits to UP, he said: “What kind of political sanskar is this that you remember temples say that you will save Vrindavan only when you visit the state," he said. Referring her offer of providing 1,000 buses to ferry migrant labourers who are stranded owing to a countrywide Covid-19 lockdown last year, he said, “This mentality worries me. The offer of buses was a joke in the midst of a pandemic.” “I was very happy about the offer but upon inquiry revealed that the registration numbers of buses provided (by Congress) belonged to scooters, three-wheelers,” he said. If the Congress was serious about providing transportation, why did it fail to bring back students of the state from Kota, Rajasthan, he said, asking if any particular individual or family had the freedom to joke with the people during a pandemic. Questioning her support for agitating farmers, the CM said: "She does not know even the difference between a mango tree and sugarcane." He also accused the Congress leadership for giving shelter to the mafia don Mukhtar Ansari in a Punjab jail. Addressing the leader of opposition and SP veteran Ram Govind Chaudhary, the CM said "he (Chaudhary) should abandon the red cap and to be respected as a gentleman, he should sport a “pagdi”. He said that the people of the state have repeatedly voted to power one family (the Yadav clan), but instead of caring for the public this powerful family colluded with the criminal and mafia dons and shielded them and their interests." The chief minister read out the NCRB data to substantiate his claim that the law and order has drastically improved in his regime. While strongly defending the three farm laws, the CM claimed that the laws were dedicated and exclusively meant to protest the interests of farmers and those criticising them was akin to committing a sin. Yogi also gave a detailed data how the MSP of the wheat and paddy had drastically improved in the past four years of his government and also increased in the purchase by the government and the government has disbursed Rs 1.24 lakh crore to 45 lakh cane cultivators in the past four years . The chief minister also attacked the Opposition parties for their “worrying” behaviour during the Governor Anandiben Patel's address. “Governor is the constitutional head of the state and if the House does not pay proper respect to its constitutional head, it would pose a serious danger before the democratic system. “Such behaviour raises questions over the legislature and we are regarded as untrustworthy,” he said. Besides being Governor, she is also a woman, at least the opposition should have respected that, the chief minister said.

The Times of India

2021-02-25

Lucknow