BJP, its allies distancing themselves from Yogi's 'Batoge toh katoge' slogan: Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said the BJP and its allies have started to distance themselves from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's "Batoge toh katoge" slogan.

Yadav termed the slogan -- given by Adityanath in a call apparently to Hindus to stay united -- as "unconstitutional" and the "most negative" in the history of the country.

Addressing a gathering in the Bakshi Ka Talab area here, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said, "The chief minister's slogan is like the British's divide and rule policy. The British have left but people with their thinking are taking their ideas forward".

"Batoge to katoge is the most negative and unconstitutional slogan in the country's history. The BJP leaders and its allies are distancing themselves from the slogan," he added.

Taking a veiled jibe at Adityanath, the SP chief said without taking any names that one becomes a 'yogi' by one's thoughts and words, not clothes.

He said the BJP knows that it is going to face a massive defeat in the by-elections and was misusing the administration in a bid to discourage people from going out to vote.

"The government is making district magistrates work like district presidents of the BJP. It (BJP) is misusing power to stop people from casting their votes. This is an attack on the right to vote of the people. BJP wants to paint the constitutional institutions with one idea and one colour. We all have to take a pledge that we have to unite and save the Constitution," he said.

Alleging that employment generation was not on the agenda of the BJP, he accused the ruling party of conspiring to take away reservation benefits.

"The government does not want to give jobs to the youth. It is snatching away reservation through conspiracy and is involved in anti-constitutional work," he said. He said the BJP's policies are anti-youth, anti-farmer and anti-PDA. PDA is the term coined by Yadav during the 2022 Assembly polls for Pichhde (backwards), Dalits and Alpsankhyak (minorities).