Meerut: Claiming that his party’s government in Uttar Pradesh made a record payment to sugarcane farmers, BJP national president J P Nadda attacked the Opposition, saying “Jinnah is theirs and ganna’ is ours”.
The BJP leader made this statement more than a month after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav courted a controversy when he mentioned Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah in a speech, along with Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Mahatma Gandhi.
Addressing his party workers here, Nadda said the Yogi Adityanath-led state government made a record payment to sugarcane farmers.
Nadda said the Yogi government paid Rs 1.41 lakh crore to farmers. The dues of the previous government have also been paid, he said
“Sugarcane is ours and Jinnah is theirs. We will win by contesting on sugarcane and expose their Jinnah mentality,” he said referring to the Assembly elections early next year.
Attacking the Opposition, he claimed that 20 sugar mills were closed during the BSP regime while 11 stopped operations under the previous Samajwadi Party government.
The BJP president said the Swaminathan Commission had recommended that farmers should get one-and-a-half times the production cost but previous Congress government did not do it.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave it to farmers, he claimed.
He said earlier farmers used to be “lathicharged” while trying to get urea and yet they did not get it.
Due to measures taken by the PM, it is easily available to farmers, he claimed.
Targeting the Samajwadi Party, he alleged that over 700 riots took place in its regime, killing 112 people.
“We are worshippers of democracy, they are of riots,” Nadda said slamming the SP.
In an apparent jibe at SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Nadda said the leader had termed the coronavirus vaccine as “Modi’s vaccine”.
“Today, I ask him how was Modi’s vaccine,” he said.
“Soon, your lal topi’ (red cap) will turn saffron,” he said referring to the SP.
He also praised the PM for scrapping the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, and abolishing the practice of triple talaq .
The BJP president credited the PM with saving people’s lives during the coronavirus pandemic, saying even the country like the USA could not decide “whether to save lives or survive the recession”.
Nadda said during the coronavirus pandemic, all political parties and their workers went into “quarantine” but BJP workers put their lives on the line to serve people.