Close on the heels of the controversy over Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's 'Modi ki Sena' remark, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was caught on camera making a similar comment, from which he sought to wriggle out on Thursday.
At an election rally in Rampur on Wednesday, the footage of which has gone viral on social and electronic media, Naqvi said, "Our missiles, our defence personnel annihilated the terrorists after storming their bastions. This is not an ordinary feat."
"'Ab dikkat yeh hui ki Congress party, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party sab chilaane lage ki bhai yeh jo Modi ji ne ghus ghus kar, Modiji ki sena ne ghus ghus kar ke aatankwaadiyo ko tabaah kiyaa uskaa saboot to dikhaa do' (But the problem is that the Congress, SP, BSP started demanding proof of the attack carried out by 'Modiji ki sena')," he added.
When contacted by PTI on Thursday evening, Naqvi maintained that he had not said it in as many words.
"I might have said 'meri sena, aapki sena, har aadmi ki sena' (my Army, your army, everyone's Army)," he told PTI over phone.
The Election Commission has issued a showcause notice to Adityanath for his 'Modi ji ki sena' remark made during a poll rally at Ghaziabad earlier this week. Sources in the poll panel said, prima facie, Adityanath has violated the EC's advisory of keeping armed forces away from political campaign.
Adityanath, who addressed election meetings in Ghaziabad and Greater Noida on Sunday, had lashed out at the Congress for what he called was its "soft approach towards terrorism and terrorists".
"Congress ke log aatankwadiyon ko biryani khilate the aur Modiji ki sena aatankwadiyon ko goli aur gola deti hai. (Congress leaders would 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 (JeM chief) Masood Azhar to encourage terrorism," he had said at the Ghaziabad election rally.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)