Rajasthan Congress Leader Sparks Row Over 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' Slogan

Congress leader Aradhana Mishra landed in a controversy after she allegedly reprimanded party workers at a meeting Jaipur for raising the 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' slogan.

During the meeting of Congress workers of the Adarsh Nagar block on Monday, two factions clashed over selection of candidates for the Rajasthan assembly elections in front of Ms Mishra and Jaipur unit president RR Tiwari.

Annoyed with the situation, Aradhana Mishra, who is also Congress' poll observer for the state, advised party workers not to raise slogans in favour of their candidate. Following this, the workers started raising the 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' slogan.

Ms Mishra intervened and said, "If you are fond of raising slogans, then raise the slogan of Congress Zindabad."

In a video, some Congress workers are seen creating an uproar while others chanted 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'.

BJP president JP Nadda on Tuesday accused the Congress of having no respect for either the country or the Constitution and constitutional institutions, as he asked why the opposition party "hates" the chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'.

The Congress is only concerned about the glorification of one special family, he alleged. "Why do those who engage in political yatra in the name of 'Bharat Jodo' hate the chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' so much?" JP Nadda posed.

However, Ms Mishra, who represents Rampur Khas in the Uttar Pradesh assembly, told reporters on Tuesday that she had only asked Congress workers to not raise slogans in favour of any one candidate.

She said that "as an AICC (All India Congress Committee) observer, I had stopped workers from raising slogans in favour of any individual and said only slogans in favour of the party can be raised".

"Misconstruing the incident and publishing fabricated things is complete nonsense," Ms Mishra said.

She said that it is quite natural that supporters raise slogans in favour of their leaders in such meetings when applying for candidature.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)