BJP fumes at Akhilesh Yadav for clubbing Jinnah with Patel; reminds 'He broke India'

Shocked by Akhilesh Yadav's praise for Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya on Sunday, questioned why was there a need to raise Jinnah during UP elections. The UP BJP also pointed that Yadav paid homage to Sardar Patel on his birth anniversary at 11:14 PM, but raised Jinnah earlier in the day. Other BJP leaders like Swatantra Dev Singh and Sambit Patra also termed it 'heights of appeasement'.

BJP balks at Akhilesh Yadav's Jinnah remark

Akhilesh Yadav raises Jinnah

On Sunday, while campaigning for the UP Assembly polls, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav claimed that Muhammad Ali Jinnah fought for India's independence. Addressing a public rally in Hardoi,  he spoke of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Jinnah in the same breath citing that they all became barristers after studying in the same place- a reference to the UK. Speaking on the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel, he contended that they all struggled for an independent India. 

He said, "Sardar Patel Ji, father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Jinnah studied in the same institute and became a barrister. They studied at the same place. They became barristers. They fought for India's freedom. They didn't refrain from taking part in any kind of struggle. It was Iron Man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who imposed a ban on an ideology (RSS)." The 403-seat UP assembly where Yogi Adityanath rules with an iron-clad majority of 314 seats, is up for grabs in February 2022.

Samajwadi Party's expansion

Recently, six suspended BSP MLAs - Hargovind Bhargav, Mujtaba Siddiqui, Hakim Lal Bind, Aslam Raini, Sushma Patel, and Aslam Chaudhary and sitting BJP MLA from Sadar Rakesh Rathore joined SP in party chief Akhilesh Yadav's presence. This joining comes a day after general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's advisor Harendra Malik and his son Pankaj Malik joined SP. Two more top Congress leaders from UP- Lalitesh Pati Tripathi and Rajesh Pati Tripathi left the party and switched allegiance to TMC.

Previously on October 1, scores of top leaders from BSP, BJP, Apna Dal, Congress and two political factions joined SP. Top new joinees include Apna Dal national vice president Omkar Singh, BJP President Backward Classes wing Arun Kumar Maurya and several ex-MLAs from BSP and Congress. The two factions - Jan Parivartan Dal, Dalit Mahasabha merged with SP while other leaders like Bablu Sen, Rizwan Zaheer and his daughter Jeba Rizwan, Ram Prakash Kushwaha, Vinod Chaturvedi, Sagar Sharma, Manoj Tiwari, and Omkar Singh joined SP. Akhilesh Yadav has also allied with Om Prakash Rajbhar-led SBSP and is in talks with estranged uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav.