Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised Uttar Pradesh's Yogi Adityanath for "Abba Jaan" remark. (File)
Stung by Rahul Gandhi's post criticising Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, his team on Tuesday said, "No one takes him seriously".
The Congress leader had posted this morning: "Jo nafrat kare, woh yogi kaisa! (What kind of a Yogi propagates hate)"
The comment was in reference to Yogi Adityanath's widely criticised "Abba Jaan" dig.
Yogi Adityanath's team hit back a few hours later.
"No one in politics takes Rahul Gandhi seriously. Jo dangaion se nafrat kare, bhrashtacharion se nafrat kare, aatankwadion se nafrat kare aur desh-pradesh ko surakshit kare wo Yogi hi hai (The one who hates rioters, who hates the corrupt, hates terrorists and secures the state and the country, that is Yogi). Maybe it wasn't taught to you in Congress' school," BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia said.
Yogi Adityanath has been criticised by many political rivals for his crude swipe at the Samajwadi Party, which lost power to the BJP in 2017.
The Chief Minister had said at a public meeting on Sunday that only "people who say abba jaan (Urdu for father)" were allowed to consume state-subsidised food before 2017 when the Samajwadi was in charge.
"Because then, people who say 'abba jaan' used to digest the rations. The rations of Kushinagar used to go to Nepal and Bangladesh. Today, if anybody tries to consume the rations meant for poor people, he will land in jail," he had said.
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, who was the target of Yogi Adityanath's comment, said the Chief Minister's "language has changed" because he realises his government is on its way out.
"The BJP government is set to go. Hence the Chief Minister's language has changed. UP people want change. People want work done like was happening during the Samajwadi Party regime," Mr Yadav said today at a press conference.