Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
Credit: Reuters File Photo
Lucknow: As the BJP gets busy to hard sell Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s much publicised ‘batenge toh katenge’ (if we are not united then we will be slaughtered) remark in the forthcoming bypolls in nine assembly constituencies in the state, the rival parties sought to counter the saffron party with a series of similar sounding, though different in meaning slogans.
The main opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) first came out with ‘’na batenge, na katenge’ (we will neither be divided nor be slaughtered) slogan and then followed it with something which appeared to be directly aimed at Adityanath.
‘Mathadheesh batenge aur katenge, PDA (pichda, dalit, alpsankhyak) jodegi aur jitegi' (the heads of mutts will divide and slaughter, the PDA will unite everyone and win), said a poster which came up on the walls of the SP office here on Saturday.
Not wanting to be left behind, BSP supremo Mayawati too came out with her slogan to counter the two parties. BSP se judenge toh aage badhenge (you will progress if you support BSP), Mayawati said in a post on her ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) handle.
BJP, in an apparent bid to outsmart the rivals, went a step further when UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya gave his own slogan-Ek rahenge toh safe rahenge (we will be safe if we are one), which was similar in meaning to Adityanath’s remark though he avoided the word ‘katenge’.
BJP leaders have been referring to Adityanath’s remarks in their election meetings in the hope that it may ‘polarise’ the Hindu voters.
A senior SP leader here told DH that his party had directed its workers not to mention the BJP’s slogans but to tell the people about their slogans.
‘’We must not fall into BJP's trap....we have to create our own narrative,’’ he said.
Speaking at a function in Agra a few days back, Adityanath had said, "Bangladesh ki halat dekh rahen hain na....ek rahenge to nek rahenge....batenge to katenge’’ (You must have seen the situation in Bangladesh....if you remain united, you will be safe...if you are divided then you will be slaughtered.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also referred to the remarks during a public meeting in Maharashtra later.
A few days back the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) also appeared to support Adityanath’s remarks saying that the remarks meant that Hindus should not get divided on the basis of caste, language and religion and needed to be united.