Union Minister Kailash Choudhary has stoked controversy with his remarks at a farmers’ convention organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Hyderabad. At the convention, Kailash Choudhary asserted that a government with nationalist thinking should come to power in the state and to “hell with those” not chanting ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’.
MoS (Agriculture) Kailash Choudhary said, “Bharat me rehna hai, toh ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ bolna hoga [If you want to live in India, you have to chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’]. Living in India, would you say ‘Pakistan Zindabad’.” The Union Minister went on to add that only those who chant ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ have a place in the country.
“That’s why I would like to say, if there is any such person who does not say ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and does not have faith in Hindustan and Bharat and keeps faith in ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, he should go to Pakistan. There is no need here,” he said.
It is “necessary” for the country to have a nationalist ideology in the region, he said, adding that the country should be strengthened with collective efforts. The farmers’ convention was organised by the BJP on the occasion of the union cabinet recently approving the terms of reference of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal that will govern the division of the river water between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Kailash Choudhary also spoke about the name of the INDIA alliance and accused Congress of stealing names. Kailash Choudhary alleged: “They have given the name INDIA. But, this work of stealing names, (they are) not doing from today. If they have done the work of stealing name first, Congress people first stole the name of Mahatma Gandhi ji. Today, it is Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi. By stealing Gandhi, they want to become like Gandhiji. In the same way, they want to take the name of India also.”
“First, they stole the name of Congress, then the name of Gandhi and today INDIA,” he said.
(With agency inputs)
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Updated: 14 Oct 2023, 11:03 PM IST