"Keep your Ali, Bajrang Bali is enough for us."
This was how Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath responded to a recent video that showed senior Congress leader Kamal Nath asking Muslim leaders to ensure as much as 90 per cent votes from the minority community for his party. While the BJP grabbed the opportunity to declare that Mr Nath was indulging in vote-bank politics, the Congress brushed it off by saying there was nothing wrong in urging for "maximum voter turnout".
Mr Adityanath, however, remained unsatisfied by the explanation. Addressing a public rally at Bhopal in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, he said: "I recently read a statement by Kamal Nathji that the Congress does not need SC/ST votes. The Congress only wants Muslim votes."
While Ali is revered by Muslims as Prophet Mohammad's successor, Bajrang Bali is another name for the Hindu god Hanuman.
The Uttar Pradesh chief minister then went on to criticise Congress president Rahul Gandhi over his promise of waiving farm loans within 10 days of coming to power. "Rahul Gandhi repeatedly says that he will waive off the loans of farmers in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. But the Congress is yet to do any such thing in Punjab, where it is in power. Why is that?" he questioned.
Madhya Pradesh goes to the polls on November 28. While the BJP hopes to get re-elected for another term, the Congress is trying its best to regain power after 15 long years in political oblivion.
(With inputs from ANI)
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