A day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath described the Indian Army as "Modiji ki sena" (Narendra Modi's army), the opposition parties on Monday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongman for personalising the armed forces and demanded an apology.

Hitting out at the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said: "Now the Indian Army has been renamed as 'Modiji's sena' by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. This is an insult to our armed forces. They are India's armed forces, not the private army of 'Prachaar Mantri'. Adityanath must apologise."

West Bengal Chief Mamata Banerjee said that she was surprised by the comments of her Uttar Pradesh counterpart and that personalisation of Indian Army was an insult.

"It is shocking to hear the UP CM saying that the Indian Army is the 'Modi Sena'. Such blatant personalisation and usurping of our beloved Indian Army is an insult and a humiliation," the Trinamool Congress supremo tweeted.

"We are proud of our Army. They belong to all. They are a great asset of our nation, and not a cassette of the BJP. People of this country must stand up and reject this statement," she said.

Lamented the comments made by Adityanath, Rajasthan Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot said: "The nation is proud of its armed forces. They belong to all of us and are not 'Modi ji ki sena'. The BJP should respect our armed forces and stop politicising their valour and sacrifice."

--IANS

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