As Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination from Amethi Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath repeated the BJP charge that by picking a second seat to contest the Lok Sabha polls the Congress president had fled from the constituency regarded as his family's home turf.
"Rahul Gandhi is very frightened. For the past four generations, the Lok Sabha seat of Amethi has been represented by his family members. He too has been the MP from Amethi.
"Since he has not done anything as per the wishes of Amethi, he is forced to flee from Amethi," Adityanath told PTI.
"Despite losing the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Amethi, Union minister Smriti Irani has visited the place more frequently than Rahul Gandhi. The feelings of the people of the Amethi are with her," he added.
On Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest also from the Wayanad Lok sabha seat in Kerala, Adityanath said he has the right to contest from any Lok Sabha seat.
But the "green flags of the Muslim League" fluttering all around in the procession in which Rahul Gandhi went to file his nomination papers in Wayanad exposes the real face of the Congress, said Adityanath.
The Congress embracing the Muslim League, which is guilty of dividing the country, sends a loud message, the UP chief minister said.
The UP chief minister was equating the Indian United Muslim League (IUML), a Congress partner in Kerala, with the pre-Partition Muslim League.
Asked to comment on temple visits by Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi, Adityanath said, "I consider this as an ideological victory of the BJP."
"Their great-grandfather (Jawaharlal Nehru) used to call himself an accidental Hindu, and today such a situation has arisen in the fourth generation that they are telling their gotra (sub-castes) and showing their 'janeu' (sacred thread worn by Hindus)," he added.
He said those who earlier considered Hindutva communal, have at least started going to temples today due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"The path of pseudo Hinduism, being taken by the brother-sister duo or the 'bua-babua' (Mayawati-Akhilesh Yadav)" will lead them nowhere as "the people of the country know the truth", said the chief minister.
Reacting to the Samajwadi Party allegation in its "vision document" that the BJP is practising "pseudo-nationalism", Adityanath said, "It is unfortunate that the election manifesto of the SP or the Congress is a document revealing their failures."
"The documents also directly envisage strengthening the 'deshdrohis' (traitors)," he added.
"The SP supporting the Congress manifesto means Congress kaa haath, deshdrohiyon ke saath (the party is with traitors). And the same is being done by the SP. Their style of working is known to everyone. They have been doing the politics of negativity, the politics of appeasement, due to which there have been serious security concerns before the country," he said.
Asked to comment on the BJP's defeat in bypolls last year and lessons learnt, Adityanath said, "This is a general election in which national issues are discussed and debated, while in bypolls, local issues dominate. Under the leadership of Modiji, the BJP will register an overwhelming win in the elections and form the government."
Attacking the anti-BJP alliance of the SP, BSP and RLD, he said, "An alliance is based on issues and values."
But the SP-BSP alliance is the alliance of two poles, he said, adding it is an alliance of such people who did not like to see each other's face.
"Such was the animosity and there was a race to prove each other wrong," the chief minister said.
"Today, only for the sake of power and to hide their misdeeds, they are trying to stop Modiji from coming to power," he added.
The chief minister also said, "Today there is tsunami of Modiji, and in this tsunami, all these alliances of vested interests, politics of negativity, corruption and separatism will be blown away."
On being reminded that he had once likened the SP and BSP to 'saanp' (snake) and 'chhachhoonder' (mole), Adityanath said, "Those who indulge in politics of negativity, can be compared with such creatures."
He defended his recent remarks calling the armed forces "Modiji ki sena".
"If I say hamaari sena (our Army) it does not mean my personal army, it refers to the nation's Army," he pointed out.
He said the President is the supreme commander of the armed forces and works on the advise of the the Council of ministers headed the prime minister.
"Naturally, under the leadership of Modiji, the country has moved forward in every sector, and hence I made such a statement," he added.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
