India
‘Batenge to katenge’: Has Yogi Adityanath’s slogan divided Maharashtra’s Mahayuti? | India News – Times of India
From left to right: Devendra Fadnavis, UP CM Yogi Adityanath and Ajit Pawar
Fadnavis on Friday reacted sharply to Ajit Pawar’s comments and referred to his counterpart’s past political contacts to brush aside his objections. “For decades, Ajit Pawar has stuck to ideologies that are anti-Hindu. There is no real secularism among those who call themselves secularists. He has stuck with people for whom resistance to Hindutva is secularism. There is no real secularism among those who call themselves secular,” Fadnavis said in a harsh counter to his ally.
“It will take some time for him to understand the mood of the public. These people either didn’t understand the audience’s feelings or didn’t understand the statement, or they probably wanted to say something else,” he said.
“I see nothing wrong in Yogi ji’s slogan. Look at the history of this country. Jab jab bate hai tab gulam bane hai. Whenever this country was divided into castes, into states, divided into communities, we became slaves. country was also divided and so were the people. Therefore, if we divide, we will shorten the history of this country,” Fadnavis added.
Ajit Pawar had called Yogi’s ‘batenge to katenge’ slogan inappropriate even as the NCP leader supported Prime Minister Modi’s unity talk.
“The comment ‘batenge to katenge’ is inappropriate. The mindset of people in UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh is different, but such statements do not work here. The use of such words, in my opinion, has no meaning in Maharashtra. Maharashtra is the state of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and Shivaji Maharaj are different, and they think differently. If anyone abandons the ideology of Shahu, Shivaji, Phule and Ambedkar, Maharashtra will not spare them,” the NCP leader had said.
“There is nothing wrong with the slogan ‘ek hain to safe hain’. I don’t see any problem here. If we stick together, everyone will prosper,” he had added.
It was not just Ajit Pawar who took exception to Yogi’s rallying cry. At least two BJP leaders from Maharashtra — Pankaja Munde and Ashok Chavan — also did not endorse the UP CM’s poll. Munde had said earlier this week that there was no need for a slogan like ‘batenge to katenge’ in Maharashtra.
“To be honest, my politics are different. I will not support it just because I belong to the BJP. I believe that we should work on development. There is no need for such an issue in Maharashtra,” Pankaja had told reporters on Wednesday. .
BJP MP and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has called the slogan “batenge to katenge” in good taste and irrelevant.
“This (slogan) has no relevance. Slogans are given during election times. This particular slogan is not in good taste and I don’t think people will like it. Personally, I am not in favor of such slogans.” Chavan had said.
“Every political official has to make a decision after much thought. We must also ensure that no one’s sentiments are hurt,” the BJP leader added.
Adityanath had first used the slogan ‘batenge to katenge, ek rahenge to nek rahenge’ in August to call for unity as Hindus were targeted in Bangladesh after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government.
“Nothing can be above the nation. And the nation will only become stronger when we are united. ‘Batenge to Katenge’. You see what is happening in Bangladesh. Those mistakes should not be repeated here… ‘Batenge against Katenge, Ek Rahenge against Nek Rahenge,’ the UP chief minister had said at a public meeting.
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and several other BJP leaders have frequently repeated the slogan during their campaign trail in both Maharashtra and Jharkhand. “If we are divided, Ganapati Pooja would be attacked, land would be captured under Land Jihad, safety of daughters would be in danger… There is no Love Jihad or Land Jihad in UP today. It was already announced that if anyone hinders the security of our daughters, grabs the land of the government and the poor, then ‘Yamraj’ would be ready to cut their ticket,” Adityanath said at a poll rally in Amravati.
Today’s strong response from Fadnavis not only targets the opposition but also sends a clear message to the NCP, which has been living an uneasy existence in the Mahayuti after its failure in the Lok Sabha elections. In the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, the Mahayuti could win only 17 of the 48 seats. Ajit Pawar’s NCP performed the worst, winning only one of the four seats it contested.
After the results, the RSS had openly criticized the BJP for joining hands with Ajit Pawar and attributed this one “wrong move” to the NDA’s thrashing in the Lok Sabha elections. An article in ‘Organiser’ magazine, which is affiliated with the RSS, had condemned the BJP’s move and called it ‘unnecessary politics’. It said the inclusion of Ajit Pawar’s NCP in the NDA had reduced the brand value of BJP.
“Maharashtra is a good example of unnecessary politics and avoidable manipulations. The NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar allied with the BJP even though the BJP and the split SS (Shiv Sena) had a comfortable majority. Sharad Pawar would have disappeared within two to three years, just like the NCP would have. I lost my energy due to infighting between cousins,” Ratan Sharda, lifelong member of RSS, had said in the article.
“Why was this unwise step taken? BJP supporters were hurt because they had fought against this Congress ideology for years and were persecuted. In one fell swoop, the BJP reduced its brand value. After years of struggle to become numero uno in Maharashtra, it became just another political party, without any difference,” he added.
It is in this light that Fadnavis’s rather strong response against Ajit Pawar on the issue of Yogi’s slogan may worry the NCP leadership. In politics there are no permanent friends or enemies. But it is generally unusual for leaders to remind their allies of their past and target them when they are on the same side of the divide. In fact, Fadnavi’s response could well be a planned warning to the ally, or perhaps the two leaders are merely playing to their galleries and consolidating their supporters.
