Cong disapproves of Akhilesh remarks on people of Gujarat

The Congress today disapproved of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav's remarks questioning the patriotism of the people of Gujarat, saying labelling those protecting the borders as anything other than Indians was "inappropriate and unfortunate".
"We totally disagree with this statement of Akhilesh Yadav. Anyone who is fighting for the country on the border is an Indian and Hindustani first, be it from any particular state.
"To label anybody as something other than an Indian...Is not only inappropriate but unfortunate also," Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar said at the AICC briefing.
He said any person protecting the border can only be termed as an Indian and not as a 'Madrasi' or a 'Gujrati' or one belonging to any other state.

Chief Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala also criticised Yadav for his remarks.
"'Jawans' belong to the entire nation, not to states. Instead of unfortunate spins to garner TRP's, please question the government on lax national security," he said.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav today appeared to question the patriotism of the people of Gujarat when he said no soldier from the state got martyred, remarks the BJP claimed stemmed from "frustration".
"UP, Madhya Pradesh, Dakshin Bharat har jagah se shaheed huye hain, Gujarat ka koi jawan shaheed hua ho toh batao (Jawans from UP, Madhya Pradesh, South India and other parts of the country have sacrificed their lives but tell me whether anyone has been martyred from Gujarat)," he said.

Without naming the BJP, he said, "They play politics in the name of martyrs, vande mataram and nationalism. What is their definition (of nationalism)? They do not even consider us Hindus."
He was apparently targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Gujarat politician whose rise in national politics has been blamed by his detractors for simultaneous growth of aggressive nationalism.
To a question on the bouncing of a cheque of the Bihar government providing ex-gratia payment to the family of a soldier killed by Maoists, Congress spokesperson Kumar said he hoped the Nitish Kumar government would be more sensitive to the issue.

"It is very very unfortunate and it needs to be rectified immediately. It is unfortunate and should not have happened. The Nitish Kumar government should be sensitive to the issue," he said.