‘Contempt for donkeys is your casteist mind, they inspire me’

PM HITS BACK AT AKHILESH

TRADINGBARBSWITHBJPRIVALSIN the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said he was amazed that Akhilesh Yadav was “afraid” of the donkeys of Gujarat and his contempt for them reflected the “casteist mentality” of thechiefminister.modisaidasfar he was concerned, he drew inspiration from the “loyal” and “hard working” donkeys.

The Prime Minister was responding to remarks made Mondaybyakhileshwhoreferred to a Gujarat tourism department video promoting the Wild Ass Sanctuary in the Little Rann of Kutch: “Gujaratkelogtogujaratke gadhon ka bhi prachar karwa rahe hain, aur hum pe aarop laga rahe hain ki humne kewal kabristan aur keval unke liye kaam kiya hai (People of Gujarat are publicising their donkeys but accuse me of working only for graveyards and them (minorities)).”

Akhilesh, in turn, was responding to Modi who accused his party of discriminating between religions and said if a villagegetsakabristan(graveyard),it should also get a shamshan (cremation ground).

Addressing a poll rally in Bahraich Thursday, Modi said people make critical remarks against their opponents during elections and he too accepted such criticism. “Lekin main hairan hun Akhileshji... Modi par hamla karo samajh sakta hun, Bhajpa pe hamlakarosamajhsaktahun,lekin bechare gadhe ke upar... aapko gadhekabhidarlagnelagahaikya? Arre woh to saikdon kilometre dur hai... aap itna ghabrate kahe ho? (Akhileshji,icanunderstandifyou attack Modi and BJP but I am amazed that you have attacked donkeys... are you scared of donkeys, that too of those thousands of kilometres away? Why are you so afraid?)”

“Aap ki jaativadi maansikta...oonch-neechkabhaodekhne walimaansikta,yehpashumeinbhi oonch va neech ka bhao dekhne lag gai...gadhaaapkoitnaburalaggaya kya?bahutsawabhavikhai...aapki sarkar itni efficient hai ki kisi ki bhains khho jaye to poori sarkar khojne ke liye lag jaati hai... yahi to aap ki sarkar ki pehchan hai .(Iam amazedthatyourcasteistmentalityhasareflectiononanimalstoo... you found donkeys so bad... it is natural since your government is soefficientthattheentiregovernment goes in search of missing buffaloes. This is your government’s identity.)”

Theprimeminister’sreference was to the buffaloes of SP minister Azam Khan which had gone missinginrampurandpolicehad to track them down.

He said Akhilesh was not awarethatdonkeysprovideinspirationtoo.“agardil-dimagsaafho to prerna le bhi sakte hain.” He said donkeys are loyal to their owner,completehisworkevenin illness and on empty stomach.

“Akhileshji, yeh 125 crore deshvasi mere malik hain... who mujhse jitna kaam lete hain main karta hun... bina chhutti liye karta hun. thak jaoon to bhi main our kaam karta hun. Kabhi bhukha rahun to bhi karta hun. Kyunki main gadhe sebhiprernaletahunaurbadegarv seletahuntaakimere125croredeshvasiyon ke liye gadhe se bhi jyada majdoori karke unke liye kaam aaun. (Akhileshji, these 125 crore countrymenaremymasters...ido all the work they ask me to do as I draw inspiration from donkeys and do it with full pride.)”

“Akhileshji, you might hate the donkeys of Gujarat but it was thatverystatewhichgavebirthto Dayanand Saraswati, Mahatma Gandhi... and Lord Krishan chose tostay,”hesaid.“thisfeelingofhatred does not suit you.”

Taking a swipe at Rahul Gandhi and the Sp-congress alliance, Modi said: “You should know that whom you hug and with whom you are appealing for votes, when his UPA government was in power, that UPA government in 2013 had released a postage stamp on the donkeys of Gujarat.nowyouwillunderstand Akhileshji, how important that donkey is.”