In a speech at the Parivartana Rally in Bengaluru on Sunday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister slammed his counterpart Siddaramaiah for asserting that he is a Hindu.
He also likened him to Congress President Rahul Gandhi for remembering he is a Hindu in the time of elections and challenged him to prove his Hindutva credentials by bringing in a ban on cow slaughter.
Here are five things that stood out from the UP CM’s speech in Bengaluru.
“When we were in power in Karnataka, we had enacted a law prohibiting cow slaughter. The Congress government as soon as it came to power, repealed that law. The cow is a very scared animal to Hindus. If Siddaramaiah is a Hindu and talks of Hindutva, he shouldn’t allow cow slaughter,” he said as reported by The Hindu, challenging the Chief Minister to prove his Hindu credentials.
He added, "Hindutva is a method of living. It should not be linked with religion, caste, belief or prayer. Hindutva does not advocate eating beef. I want to ask the chief minister that if he is a Hindu and supports Hindutva then is it right to endorse eating beef."
“The party has become a burden...a problem for the nation. Because of corruption, its divisive politics and its anti-development policies, Karnataka has been pushed five years back. The corrupt Congress is using Karnataka as its ATM," Adityanath said as per The Economic Times.
“Like their leader Rahul Gandhi who visited temples during Gujarat elections, Siddaramaiah also now remembers that he is a Hindu,” Adityanath said.
“Like Uttar Pradesh is the birthplace of Lord Rama, Karnataka is the birthplace of Lord Hanuman. So, Hanuman Jayanthi is a great issue here as everyone celebrates the day. Like Rama in UP, it is Hanuman in Karnataka,’’ he said as per Asian Age.
“In the past five years, the Congress has pushed Karnataka backwards. Karnataka needs to benefit from the development programmes of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, the youth, farmers and cities like Bengaluru need these programmes, and for this Karnataka needs a BJP government,’’ Adityanath said as per The New Indian Express.
Yogi Adityanath is in Bengaluru campaigning for the BJP ahead of the state assembly elections in Karnataka in May. The Parivartana Yatra which started on November 2 entered its 66th day as the BJP campaigns on the promise of ‘development’ in the state.
In December, during the Parivartana Yatra rally in Hubballi, Yogi Adityanath took a jibe at the Congress, and said that "It is the turn of the people in Karnataka to throw Congress out of south India as voters did in Gujarat and Himachal in western and northern India recently.”