SP ‘unity’ poster fuels war of words ahead of UP bypolls

A new dimension has been added to the ongoing war of words over ‘batenge to katenge’ (divided we fall) slogan with the Samajwadi Party coining a new ones to counter the same with posters carrying pictures of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav together coming up at SP headquarters here and the former attempting to bring focus back on UP’s caste issues.
“Na batenge na katenge, ek hain aur ek rahenge” (We will neither get divided nor fall. We are united and will remain so), read an SP hoarding carrying pictures of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
The SP’s hoarding further read “batenge toh gas cylinder 1200 mein milega. Ek honge to 400 rupye mein milega” (We will get LPG cylinder for ₹1200 if we get divided and for ₹400 if we are united).
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Another hoarding read “Ganga-Jamuna tehzeeb ko na hi batne denge, na hi samaj ki ekta ko katne denge” (We will neither let anyone divide Ganga-Jamuni culture, nor will allow anyone to divide the unity in society).
A slogan “PDA ki hogi jeet- ekta ki hogi jeet” (PDA will win, unity will win) has been displayed on the top of this hoarding. The PDA is the slogan that the SP has given to bring Pichda (backwards), Dalits and Alpsankhyak (minorities) under its banner to win Uttar Pradesh.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath came out with the “batenge to katenge” slogan to lay emphasis on the need to unite the majority community amid the call of INDIA Bloc for a caste census and increase in reservation to counter the BJP’s way of politics.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also come out ‘Ek Hain to Safe Hain’ observations while RSS’s Dattatreya Hosabale too has supported the CM’s observations and targeted Rahul Gandhi saying the latter though spoke about ‘Mohabbat Ki Dukan’ but stayed away from the RSS.
Rae Bareli MP Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, has courted a controversy by speaking about the caste imbalance in administration in Rae Bareli. Speaking at a programme in Nagpur on Wednesday Rahul Gandhi referred to his Tuesday’s visit attending meeting of District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DISHA) in Rae Bareli and said, “I asked for introduction of the officers. I did not get a name of Dalit or OBC officer. I asked my secretary to get a list of all the officers to know about how many of these officers are from the OBCs, Dalits, tribals and minorities.”
Rahul Gandhi said prima facie he found that 80 percent of the officers were from one or two castes. He referred to leading hospitals and private sector companies to make his point that those belonging to backward classes, tribals and Dalits communities are not occupying important positions anywhere.
Rahul Gandhi’s observations, however, evoked strong reactions from the BJP. Uttar Pradesh minister Dinesh Singh countered Rahul Gandhi’s observations saying he was present at Rae Bareli’s DISHA meeting and officers present there belonged to all the communities.
He released a list of those nominated members attending the DISHA meeting and said Rahul Gandhi could have nominated representatives of deprived sections on six general category posts (three other nominees have to be from reserved category).
He said Rahul Gandhi, however, did not do so and only two of those nominated on general category posts were from reserved category.
Samajwadi Party MLA Manoj Pandey, who owes allegiance to the BJP, also countered Rahul Gandhi’s observations and said the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha has made the statement for political gains. He said such a misleading statement from those occupying constitutional positions was sad.
The Congress is not contesting by-election to nine UP assembly seats and supporting the SP candidates on all the seats.
Rahul Gandhi’s observations on caste issue are bound to bring the same into focus amid the campaigning for the November 20 by-elections in Uttar Pradesh.