Maharashtra Assembly Polls: After Munde, Ashok Chavan opposes ‘batenge to katenge’, Ajit Pawar joins chorus
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis last week had said "vote jihad" should be countered by "dharma-yuddha" of votes.
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Earlier, NCP leader Ajit Pawar too had voiced differences over this slogan. (File)A day after BJP leader and MLC Pankaja Munde distanced herself from the “batenge to katenge” statement, another party leader, Rajya Sabha MP and former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan said the slogan was not in good taste and irrelevant and that the people will not appreciate it.
In an interview to Press Trust of India (PTI) on Wednesday, Chavan said he doesn’t attach much importance to the “vote jihad – dharma yuddha” rhetoric, as the BJP and ruling Mahayuti’s policy is development of the country and Maharashtra.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Yogi Adityanath had been raising the slogan of “batenge to katenge” in his election campaign rallies ahead of the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls.
Chavan told PTI, “There is no relevance of this (slogan). Slogans are given at election time. This particular slogan is not in good taste and I don’t think people will appreciate it. Personally speaking, I am not in favour of such slogans.”
“Every political functionary has to take a decision after a lot of thinking. We also have to see that nobody’s sentiments are hurt,” Chavan added. He was speaking at Ardapur in Nanded during his election campaign for the Mahayuti.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis last week had said “vote jihad” should be countered by “dharma-yuddha” of votes.
When asked if the poll campaign was drifting away from the issue of development, Chavan said the Mahayuti and BJP’s policy was Viksit Bharat and Viksit Maharashtra, as spelt out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I don’t give much importance (to the vote jihad rhetoric). Personally speaking, development is my only agenda. Therefore, people appreciate my stand despite me changing the party,” he said. Chavan joined in BJP in February 2024 after having spent more than three decades in the Congress.
In an interview to The Indian Express on Wednesday, BJP MLC Pankaja Munde had said, “Frankly, my politics is different. I won’t support it just because I belong to the same party. My belief is that we should work on development alone. A leader’s job is to make every living person on this land as our own. Therefore, we need not bring any such topic to Maharashtra.”
She added, “He said it in a different context and in the political situation of that land (Adityanath first used the slogan in UP). The meaning of that is not what we are using in Maharashtra. Modiji has given justice to everyone. He did not see caste or religion when he gave rations, housing or cylinders to people.”
Earlier, NCP leader Ajit Pawar too had voiced differences over this slogan. In an interview with The Indian Express on Thursday he reiterated, “The North (India) may accept this, not us. We have people with different backgrounds in our state. I am of the opinion that such things should not be said.”
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