Amarinder slams Yogi over ‘hate’ tweet
Chandigarh, May 15: Chief minister Amarinder Singh Saturday criticised his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath over his “inflammatory” tweet on the declaration of Malerkotla as the 23rd district of Punjab, terming it an attempt to incite “communal hatred” in the peaceful state.
Contrasting the communal harmony in Punjab with the “divisiveness being promoted by the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, Mr Singh asked the former to stay out of his state’s affairs as they are in much better shape than those in UP.
“Any distinction on the basis of belief and religion is contrary to the basic spirit of the Constitution of India. Presently, the formation of Malerkotla (Punjab) is a reflection of the divisive policy of the Congress,” Mr Adityanath had tweeted earlier in Hindi.
The UP CM’s tweet came a day after Mr Singh announced the only Muslim majority town in Punjab to be the state’s 23rd district on the occasion of Id.
“What does he (Yogi) know of Punjab’s ethos or the history of Malerkotla, whose relationship with Sikhism and its gurus was known to every Punjabi? And what does he understand of the Indian Constitution, which is being brazenly trampled every day by his own government in UP? asked the Punjab chief minister, in a strong reaction to his UP counterpart’s tweet.
Mocking the UP CM’s comment, Mr Singh said given the Yogi government and the BJP’s track record of spreading communal hate, such a remark was utterly ridiculous, apart from being totally unwarranted and uncalled for.
“The whole world knows of the communally divisive policies of the BJP, and particularly the Yogi Adityanath government in UP,” he said.