'If Cong, SP have faith in Ali, we have Bajrang Bali'

Within days of being cautioned by the Election Commission (EC) over his remarks 'Modiji ki sena' (Modi's army), Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath again triggered a controversy by referring to 'Ali vs Bajarang Bali' slogan in an apparent bid to polarise the electorate.

''Congress and the grand alliance think that Ali (Prophet Mohammed's son-in-law) will help them in the polls.....but we think that Bajarang Bali (Lord Hanuman) willl help us,'' Adityanath said while addressing an election rally at Meerut, about 450 kilometres from here, on Tuesday.

The UP chief minister referred to the BSP supremo Mayawati's appeal to the Muslim community to ensure that their votes were no divided and targeted the opposition parties for ''appeasing'' the Muslims.

''These people (opposition leaders) defend the terrorists when they attack temples.....they speak in their defence when our government target terrorists across the border,'' Adityanath said.

Earlier during the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections last year, Adityanath had raked up the 'Ali vs Bajarang Bali' slogan. ''If Congress has Ali, we have Bajarang Bali'', he had then said at his election meetings.

Muslim scholars and the opposition leaders sharply condemned Adityanath's remarks and demanded action against him.

''BJP has nothing to show to the people and so it is trying to polarise the voters along communal lines,'' said Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Rajendra Chaudhary.

UP Congress leader Virendra Madan also slammed the remarks and said that EC must take action against him.

Barely a few days back, the EC had warned Adityanath against using 'Army' to seek votes in the elections. The saffron-clad chief minister had, at an election rally, said that 'Modiji ki sena' served bullets to the terrorists.