Amid poster war in UP, Cong's Rashid Alvi backs SP's 'judenge to jeetenge' pitch

New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Congress leader Rashid Alvi on Friday extended support to the Samajwadi Party (SP) over its ‘judenge to jeetenge’ posters, claiming that it was an effort to unite the people unlike the ‘divisive’ rhetoric of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

A poster war has broken out in Uttar Pradesh ahead of by-elections, with BJP sharpening its ‘batenge ko katenge’ pitch while opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) looking to counter it with slogans like ‘judenge toh jeetenge’ and others.

Congress spokesperson, talking to IANS, also trained guns at Uttar Pradesh chief minister and asked the latter to point out – to whom his comments were directed at.

"When Yogi Adityanath talks about Batenge toh Katenge, it is natural to react. I want to ask the Chief Minister, you say 'Batenge toh Katenge' but whom do you wish to divide, and who is supposed to attack? Is it Pakistan? No, they lack the courage. Or China, with whom your government has signed agreements."

"If it’s an internal threat, then say so directly. If you have the courage, define who you’re referring to. Who is to be divided, and who is to attack?" he added.

On Thursday, SP workers put up posters at many places in Lucknow, featuring SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav with 'Judenge Toh Jeetenge' slogans.

Responding to Uttarakhand government announcing roll-out of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) on November 9, he said, "They are not implementing UCC because they genuinely believe it is necessary, but rather to spread hate and perpetuate anti-Muslim sentiment."

"The Prime Minister himself has recently said that they would establish a secular code. How can a party that does not believe in secularism claim to create a secular code? They did nothing on this issue for 11 years, and now, just before elections, they bring up UCC, Waqf issues, and divorce reforms. It feels as if there are no other pressing issues in the country," he added.

--IANS

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