News Brief
Nishtha Anushree
Nov 12, 2024, 05:59 PM | Updated 05:59 PM IST
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Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister (CM) Yogi Adityanath called Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge's 'anger over him unnecessary' and asked him to get angry at Nizam of Hyderabad.
This comes after Kharge's indirect attack on Adityanath where he said, "On one hand, you wear 'gerua' clothes and on the other hand, you say 'batoge toh katoge'," and accused him of spreading hatred among the people.
Responding to this, the UP CM said, "Kharge ji, don't get angry at me, I respect your age. If you want to get angry, get angry at Hyderabad Nizam, whose Razakars burnt your village."
Kharge was born in Varawatti village of Karnataka's Bidar district which was burnt by Razakars in 1948 during Hyderabad unrest. Kharge lost his mother and sister in this fire and narrowly escaped himself.
Adityanath emphasised that Razakars brutally killed Hindus, and burnt Kharge's mother, sister and family members and urged him to present this truth before the world so that people can understand 'batenge to katenge'.
This slogan suggesting that if Hindus get divided, they will have to suffer, was coined by Adityanath last month and has been gaining traction since then with endorsements from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as well.
In the Maharashtra assembly elections, scheduled for 20 November, a lot of discourse happened around this slogan. Adityanath reiterated it on Tuesday (12 November) in a reference to Kharge's childhood tragedy.
The UP CM alleged that Kharge is not revealing this truth fearing his vote bank and cheating the country and said, "I am a Yogi. I have learned only one thing. Every work should be for the country."
Nishtha Anushree is Senior Sub-editor at Swarajya. She tweets at @nishthaanushree.