LUCKNOW: Equating himself with a deity, prime minister
Narendra Modi on Thursday said while
Lord Krishna
was born in UP and made Gujarat his ‘karmabhumi’, he was born in Gujarat and had been adopted by
Uttar Pradesh as its son.
“Though I am an adopted son of Uttar Pradesh, I am not the one who will ditch his maai-baap,” he said.
Modi drawing parallel with Lord Krishna comes after controversy over the slogan ‘Har-har Modi, ghar-ghar Modi”, during Lok Sabha campaign in Varanasi. The slogan had led to heated debate with Opposition slamming BJP and Modi for equating him with Lord Shiva.
PM candidate for the BJP, Modi had even tweeted: “Some enthusiastic supporters are using slogan ‘Har Har Modi…’ I respect their enthusiasm but request not to use this slogan in the future”.
Addressing a huge rally at Hardoi on Thursday, Modi said: “Bhagwan Krishna Uttar Pradesh ki dharti par paida huye aur Gujarat mein aa kar karmabhumi banaayi. Main Gujarat mein paida hua, Uttar Pradesh ne mujhe gode le liya (Lord Krishna was born in UP and came to Gujarat made it his land of vocation, I was born in Gujarat and UP has adopted him).
UP is his “mai-baap”, he further said and added that this adopted son would take care of his “maai-baap”. Even though he is an adopted son, he needs blessings of the people.
Taking a pot-shot at incumbent Akhilesh Yadav government in the state, the Prime Minister alleged the police stations in Uttar Pradesh have become the Samajwadi Party office. Appealing to people to bring BJP to power in UP like they placed it at Centre, Modi said once the BJP comes to power ‘goondaraj’ would come to an end.
At a rally in Barabanki later in the day, Modi repeated his “adopted son” line in what was seen as reply to Cong-SP alliance coined phrase of “UP ke ladke Vs bahari Modi” catchline.
“Before alliance, Congress had jumped into the election campaign with teh slogan ‘27 saal UP behal (UP in a shambles for 27 years). So, what happened? I also want to know from the Samajwadi Party that by tying up with Congress, haven't they compromised on the ideology of Ram Manohar Lohiya, who fought against Congress all his life,” said Modi.
He promised loan waiver to farmers once BJP government came to power in the state. “Bless me and punish those who have brought the state to its present condition,” he added. Modi also went on to list schemes and initiatives taken by his government and said: “There were more than 1,500 villages in UP with no power supply. During Mayawati's tenure, only 23 villages were electrified while during her ‘bhatija’ (nephew) Akhilesh’s regime, only three villages were electrified.” Against that, the Centre has provided power in more than 1,350 villages, Modi said in Barabanki.
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