The Congress on Monday accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of usurping the Army's valour by calling it "Modi's Army" and said it was an insult to our slain jawans and officers and a violation of the Election Commission's (EC) norms.
"It is a flagrant violation of the institution of the Election Commission. From the prime minister to chief ministers -- they (BJP) are trampling upon the mandate of the country, fearing an imminent defeat in the 2019 (Lok Sabha) election," Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.
Accusing Adityanath of trying to divert the attention from the real issues concerning the people, the Congress leader said he was "a zero-performance chief minister" and that is why he was hiding behind the sacrifices and valour of the armed forces.
"He is guilty for the death of nearly 400 children, majority being in his own parliamentary constituency, and protecting people accused of rape like BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar.
"Zero performance, zero delivery and zero result awaits them (BJP) on the day of the Lok Sabha poll (results)," he said.
The reaction of the opposition party came after Adityanath referred to the Indian Army as "Modiji ki sena" (Modi's army) while campaigning for Union minister V K Singh.
The EC took cognizance of Adityanath's comments on Monday.
The district magistrate of Ghaziabad was asked to furnish a report in this regard, an EC official said.
The report would be submitted to the Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer's office, which had sought the details after taking cognizance of media reports in this regard, he added.
"Congress ke log atankwadiyon ko biryani khilate the aur Modiji ki sena atankwadiyon ko goli aur gola deti hai. (The Congress used to feed biryani to terrorists, while Modi's army gives them bullets and bombs). This is the difference. The Congress people use 'ji' to refer to Masood Azhar to encourage terrorism," Adityanath had said at a poll rally in Ghaziabad on Sunday.
The EC had, on March 19, asked political parties to "desist" from indulging in any propaganda involving actions taken by defence forces during their Lok Sabha poll campaigns.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)