Anurag Thakur slams OP Rajbhar for praising Jinnah, calls it 'politics of appeasement'

Union Information & Broadcast and Youth Affairs & Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on November 10 lashed out at opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh, accusing them of appeasement politics ahead of the UP Assembly polls in 2022.

"Politics of appeasement start when polls come. Some start chanting Jinnah's name. SP-BSP leaders were in closed rooms and travelling abroad for the last four and a half years. The public remembers the Yogi government for its honesty, work and courage," Thakur told ANI. 

Thakur's remarks came after Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar said that India would not have witnessed partition if Mohammed Ali Jinnah was made the first Prime Minister of the country after independence.

"Had Jinnah been made the first Prime Minister, the country's partition would not have happened," Rajbhar had told reporters in Varanasi on Wednesday. 

'Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani agreed Jinnah should be PM of India': SBSP chief

Days after Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav stoked controversy by comparing Muhammad Ali Jinnah with Mahatma Gandhi, and other freedom fighters, SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar attempted to play the Jinnah card in election-bound Uttar Pradesh.

Throwing weight behind Akhilesh Yadav's disputed remarks, Rajbhar opined that India's partition would have never happened if Jinnah was made the first Prime Minister of India. The Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party leader further claimed that both former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his then Deputy LK Advani concurred with the idea that Jinnah should have been the first Indian PM. 

"Read about the thoughts Atal Ji, Advani Ji and why they used to praise him," Rajbhar told media persons, in reaction to Akhilesh Yadav's remarks.

Akhilesh Yadav's controversial statement on Jinnah 

Samajwadi Party chief and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav had compared Muhammad Ali Jinnah with Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Jawaharlal Nehru, claiming that the founder of Pakistan "fought for India's independence." Speaking on Sardar Patel's birth anniversary, Yadav claimed that Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammad Ali Jinnah studied in the same institute. He further stated that they also fought for India's freedom together. 

"Why should I give context? Those who are questioning should read the history," Akhilesh Yadav had said upon being questioned.