Yogi Adityanath and V K Singh in Ghaziabad last Sunday.FOUR DAYS after UP CM Yogi Adityanath referred to the Indian Army as “Modiji ki sena” during an election rally in Ghaziabad, and came under the scrutiny of the poll panel, the constituency’s BJP candidate and External Affairs MoS V K Singh, a former Army chief, said that any person who uses such a description for the forces is a “deshdrohi (traitor)”.
Responding to a question from BBC Hindi on Adityanath’s remarks while campaigning for the BJP, Singh said: “Nahin, BJP ki prachar mein sab log apne aap ko sena hi bolte hain. Lekin hum kis sena ki baat kar rahe hain? Hum Bharat ki sena ki baat kar rahe hain ya hum political workers ki baat kar rahe hain? Mujhe nahin pata ki kya sandharb hai. Agar koi kehta hai ki Bharat ki sena Modiji ki sena hai, toh who galat hi nahin hai par woh deshdrohi bhi hai. Bharat ki senayein Bharat ki hai, kisi political party ki nahin hai. Bharat ki senayein tathasth hai apne aap ke andar is cheez mein saksham hai ki politics se alag rahein. Toh pata nahin mujhe kaun aisi baat kar raha hai. Ek-hi-do log hain jinke mann mein aisi baatein aati hain kyunki unke paas aur kuch hai nahin.”
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(No, in the BJP’s campaign, everyone calls themselves Modiji’s army. But which army are we talking about? Are we talking about the Indian Army or are we talking about political workers? I don’t know what the context is. If someone says the Indian Army is Modiji’s army, that person is not only wrong but also a traitor. India’s armed forces are India’s, not of any political party. India’s armed forces are capable within themselves of keeping away from politics. So I don’t know who is talking like this. There must be only one or two people in whose minds such thoughts arise because they don’t have anything else.)
When his remarks triggered a fresh furore, Singh criticised the channel and levelled allegations against the interviewer on his Twitter account. “@BBCHindi ne wahi kiya jiske liye maine presstitute shabd diya tha. Maine joh kaha woh mere paas record hai. Lagta hai reporter so raha tha ya usne jaan-bhooj kar cut-paste kar galat bayan bataya. Well done, Jugal — kitna paisa mila?”
(BBC Hindi has done that for which I had given the word presstitute. I have the record of what I have said. I seems the reporter was sleeping or he deliberately did a cut-paste to convey a wrong statement. Well done, Jugal — how much money did you get?)
In response, BBC Hindi posted an “uncut” 1.51-minute video clip of the exchange.
Singh’s remarks came a day after the Election Commission issued a showcause notice to Adityanath for the remark and sought a response by April 5.
While referring to the Pulwama attack, Adityanath had said during a rally on March 31: “Congress ke log atankwadiyon ko biryani khilate thhay, aur Modiji ki Sena atankwadiyon ko goli aur gola deti hai. Yahi antar hai. Congress ke log Azhar Masood jaise atankwadiyon ke saath ‘ji’ laga karke atankwad ko protsahit karti hai. Aur Modiji ke netritva mein, aaj aatankwad ko, unke thikano ko nasht aur dhwast karke aatankwad ki hi nahi, Pakistan ki kamar todne ka kaam Bharatiya Janata Party ki sarkar kar rahi hai.”
(Members of the Congress used to feed biryani to terrorists while Modiji’s army gives bullets and bombs to terrorists. This is the difference. People of Congress encouraged terrorism by using ‘ji’ to address terrorists such as Azhar Masood. Under Modiji’s leadership, the BJP government is not only destroying the locations of terrorists but also breaking Pakistan’s back).
