'Batenge toh katenge' not only poll slogan but lesson learnt from history, says UP BJP leader

Lucknow: On Tuesday, on the eve of voting for the nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, a hoarding and a statement that revolved around the slogan 'batenge toh katenge' attracted attention.

Both the hoarding by Uttar Pradesh BJP secretary Abhijat Mishra at Lucknow's 1090 Crossing and the statement by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav revolved around the slogan 'batenge toh katenge (divided we perish)'.

"This 'batenge toh katenge' slogan is the most "negative, most unconstitutional in Indian history," Yadav said, stressing how Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's 'batenge' statement that he first made in Agra on August 26 continued to polarize opinions right through the bypolls campaign.

Mishra's hoarding shows the map of undivided India and says "batenge toh katenge" is not only an election slogan but a lesson learnt from the country's history.

"Whenever, we people were divided on caste, language, regionalism and community considerations, our country got divided. But, now we will not allow this division again, we will fight, we will move ahead," the hoarding said.

The 'batenge toh katenge' slogan reverberated right through 13 election rallies and two road shows that Adityanath held across the state in five days and kept cropping up in Akhilesh's rallies.

Right through the campaign, Adityanath would make the statement whose "spirit" was also endorsed by BJP's ideological fountainhead RSS and after having made it, he would go on to remind the audience how division on caste lines had brought the country's downfall.

"The underlying sentiment of the slogan was of Hindu unity and guard against division on caste lines," a RSS cadre said.

Through the campaign Adityanath also used 'ek rahenge toh nek rahenge, ek rahenge toh safe rahenge (united one stays safe and just)' -“ another slogan with the same 'unity' content. The 'batenge toh katenge' forced a counter slogan from the Samajwadi Party as a hoarding with 'judgenge to jeetenge (united we win)' written on it came up outside the opposition Samajwadi Party's Lucknow office.

"The BJP wants to create division in OBC ranks and we are out to unite them," said a Samajwadi Party worker while explaining the political import of 'judenge toh jitenge' messaging of SP.

On September 23, Adityanath in order to counter the SP had while making the 'batenge' slogan stated it was division that led to "invaders destroying the Ayodhya Ram temple".

He also made the same remark while making a reference of violence that broke out in Bangladesh after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government forcing a fresh counter with another Samajwadi Party hoarding stating 'na batenge, na katenge, PDA ke sang rahenge' (we will neither get divided nor we will perish) and 'PDA jodegi aur jeetegi' (PDA will unite and win).

Hoardings countering Adityanath's slogan also came up outside Congress office and even the BSP jumped in the slogan war with party chief Mayawati coining a slogan "BSP se judenge toh aage badhenge, surakshit rahenge (people will progress and remain safe with the BSP's)". Soon after, a hoarding of this slogan came up outside BSP office.

A SP cadre Ranjeet Singh also put up a poster that read 'na batenge, na katenge, 2027 ko nafrat karne waale hatenge. Hindu Muslim ek rahenge to nek rahenge' (we won't perish, will stay united)." Elaborating on the psychological aspect of such political slogans, Pradeep Khatri, who taught psychology at Lucknow's National PG College, said: "These political slogans are innovative, attractive, and hammer on the mind of the people, thereby leaving a long-lasting impact on people's mind." "Such slogans also have a high recall value," Khatri, now a practising clinical psychologist and counsellor, said.

Amit Chaubey, an SP worker from the Maharajganj district who had countered the BJP slogan with an innovative slogan said that the Samajwadi Party coined the term 'PDA' reflecting all sections of the society. 'PDA' is an acronym coined by Akhliesh Yadav for the 'Pichhde' (backwards), Dalits and 'Alpsankhyak' (minorities).

As the election campaign intensified, Adityanath on November 10 gave a new definition to Samajwadi Party's coinage 'PDA', terming it as "Production house of Dangai (rioters) and Apradhi (criminals)".

The slogan war escalated to the extent that during a rally at Katehari in Ambedkar Nagar district, the SP chief claimed that Adityanath will lose his "chair" after the UP bypolls and BJP's defeat in the Maharashtra polls.

Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya described 'the batenge toh katenge' slogan as a call for unity.

"The slogan -- 'if we stay united, we will be safe, divided we perish' -- used by PM Narendra Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath is a symbol of unity and determination for all party workers. There was never a difference of opinion in the BJP on this," Maurya said.

Reacting to the "batenge toh katenge" slogan of Adityanath, Rashtriya Lok Dal's UP chief Ramashish Rai told PTI, "RLD does not have any objection with the slogan given by Yogi jee. This is a slogan, and in elections different slogans are given by leaders. He (Adityanath) had said in another context. We do not have any objection with the slogan, as long as the theme of brotherhood and pro-farmer approach remains intact." The bypolls will be held at Katehari in Ambedkar Nagar, Karhal in Mainpuri, Meerapur in Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, Majhawan in Mirzapur, Sisamau in Kanpur city, Khair in Aligarh, Phulpur in Prayagraj, and Kundarki in Moradabad on November 20. The results will be out on November 23.