Row over Yogi rally; Dadri lynching accused spotted

Uttar Pradesh chief minister and BJP's star campaigner Yogi Adityanath triggered a huge controversy after he referred to the Indian Army as ''Modi ki Sena'' at an election rally in Ghaziabad.

The main accused in the Bisada lynching case Vishal Singh, who was the son of a local BJP leader, was also seen occupying a seat in the front row at the rally.

''Congress ke log atankvadiyon ko biryani khilate hain....aur Modi ki sena unhe goli khilati hai...yehi antar hai hamare aur congress mein'' (Congress feeds terrorists with Biryani...the army of Modi gives them bullets...this is the difference between us and the Congress,'' Adityanath said while addressing the rally at Bisada in Ghaziabad on Sunday.

The remarks triggered strong backlash from the opposition leaders, who termed it violation of the model code of conduct and sought action against Adityanath.

''The remarks are reflective of a brazen attempt to use the Indian Army to gain mileage in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls...we have been saying that the BJP has been trying to make political capital out of the air strikes.....the Election Commission must take action,'' said a senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader here on Monday.

The presence of Vishal Singh, who was the prime accused in the lynching of a Muslim youth at Bisada village following rumors of eating beef in 2015, at the rally also invited flak from the opposition. Singh was out on bail.

''BJP has no regret over the lynching...it is taking help of such people to win the polls,'' said the SP leader.

Singh was seen raising pro-BJP slogans at the rally in which Adityanath harped mainly on banning slaughterhouses and Balakot air strikes.

50-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq was lynched in Bisara village near Dadri on September 28, 2015, for allegedly eating beef during Eid and storing it for later consumption.

“Yes, I was there at the rally with the others. We all support the BJP,” Rana, son of local BJP worker Sanjay Rana, told IE.

“Who doesn’t remember what happened in Bisara, and how the Samajwadi Party government tried to curb people’s emotions here,” Adityanath said.

Adityanath also asserted that the previous government created “breeding ground” for riots as he accused them of harassing and filing false cases against members of the majority community.

"In my two years, has there has been any Bisada-like incident in the state? Has there been safety concern to sisters and mothers? No. This cannot happen because we have said that we will guarantee safety and development to 23 crore citizens of the state, bring every one into mainstream. We won't differentiate between people but won't engage in appeasement politics," he said according to NDTV.

Adityanath made these remarks at a rally to support Union minister Mahesh Sharma, Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate from the Gautam Buddha Nagar constituency seat, where Bisara village falls.

“Earlier, in western Uttar Pradesh, if you were riding a bullock cart or a buffalo cart and by chance stopped at a tobacco shop or a tea-stall, your buffaloes and bullocks would get stolen. When we came to power, we shut all the illegal slaughterhouses in one go,” said Adityanath as he also accused the Congress-led UPA of being soft on terrorism and accused them “serving biryani” to terrorists.

“But, the BJP has only two ways of dealing with terrorists – bullet or bomb,” he added.