New Delhi: Setting the tone for next year’s parliamentary elections, UP CM Yogi Adityanath made a double-edged comment saying that before his government was formed in the state, the ration intended for the poor would be ‘digested’ by those who pronounce ‘Abba Jaan’.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, there is no room for the policy of appeasement Before 2017, anyone could get a ration? Only those who said ‘Abba Jaan’ digested the ration,” UP CM Yogi Adityanath said at an event in Kushinagar State.
‘Abba Jaan’ is a term used to refer to fathers by most Muslims.
The comment drew widespread condemnation on Twitter, with users accusing the chief minister of making community references, by launching a campaign with the hashtag HamareAbbaJaan.
Retired Foreign Secretary Nirupama Menon Rao shared a photo of her father saying, “My father just as he joined the Army in 1941. He made me what I am. My #AbbaJaan.”
Mediacorp’s Chief commercial and digital officer Parminder Singh also shared a photo of his father and saying, “Like most other Dads my Dad believes in preserving & recycling things. Forever surprising us with merchandise received from my previous employers. Like a few years back he showed up in Singapore wearing my old Apple cap and tee! He turned 80 this year. #HamareAbbaJaan“
Journalist Saba Naqvi posted a throwback picture with her father, noted journalist Saeed Naqvi, from their ancestral village in UP.
Writer and chronicler Rana Safvi shared a photo of her father and saying, “He taught us the value of truthfulness, honesty and above all humanity.”
British-American writer and journalist Aatish Taseer tweeted a picture of his father and mother.
National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah also criticized the Chief Minister’s remark with a tweet saying: “I have always maintained that the BJP does not intend to fight an election with any other program that blatant communitarianism and hatred with all the venom directed against Muslims. Here is a CM seeking re-election claiming that Muslims have eaten all rations intended for Hindus. “
Last month, Yogi Adityanath had blamed the opposition for vaccine hesitancy in the state, saying some only took the jab after their ‘Abba Jaan‘ did.