NEW DELHI: Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday strongly endorsed Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath‘s war cry for unity “batenge ko katenge” and countered his ally NCP’s Ajit Pawar, who has opposed the slogan, and also send out a clear message to some state BJP leaders who have spoken against the UP CM’s poll pitch. Interestingly, even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has refrained from using Yogi’s slogan in his election rallies and has instead preferred the pitch “Ek hain to safe hain” to drive home the importance of unity.
Fadnavis on Friday reacted sharply to Ajit Pawar’s remarks and referred to his counterpart’s past political association to brush aside his objections. “For decades, Ajit Pawar has stayed with such ideologies which are anti-Hindu. There is no real secularism amongst those who call themselves as secularists. He has stayed with people for whom opposing Hindutva is secularism. There is no real secularism among those who call themselves secular,” Fadnavis said in a hard-hitting counter to his ally.
“It will take some time for him to understand the mood of the public. These people either did not understand the sentiments of the public or did not understand the statement or they probably wanted to say something else,” he said.
“I don’t see anything wrong in Yogi ji’s slogans. Look at the history of this country. Jab Jab bate hai tab gulam bane hai. Whenever this country divided into castes, into states, divided into communities society we became slaves. The country was also divided, and so were the people. That’s why if we divide, we will cut. This is the history of this country,” Fadnavis added.
Ajit Pawar had called Yogi’s “batenge to katenge” slogan inappropriate even as the NCP leader supported PM Modi’s unity pitch.
“The remark ‘batenge to katenge’ is inappropriate. People’s thinking in UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh is different, but such statements don’t work here. Using such words holds no significance in Maharashtra, in my opinion. Maharashtra is the state of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and Shivaji Maharaj. People of Maharashtra are different, and they think differently. If anyone leaves the ideology of Shahu, Shivaji, Phule and Ambedkar, then Maharashtra will not spare them,” the NCP leader had said.
“There is nothing wrong with ‘ek hain to safe hain’ slogan. I don’t see any issue here. If we stay together, everyone will prosper,” he had added.
It was not just Ajit Pawar who objected to Yogi’s war cry. At least two BJP leaders of Maharashtra – Pankaja Munde and Ashok Chavan, also did not endorse the UP CM’s poll pitch. Munde had earlier this week said there was no need for a slogan such as “batenge to katenge” in Maharashtra.
“Frankly speaking, my politics is different. I won’t support it just because I belong to the BJP. My belief is we should work on development. There is no need for such an issue in Maharashtra,” Pankaja had told reporters on Wednesday.
BJP MP and former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan has called the slogan “batenge to katenge” not in good taste and irrelevant.
“There is no relevance of this (slogan). Slogans are given at election time. This particular slogan is not in good taste and I don’t think people will appreciate it. Personally speaking, I am not in favour of such slogans,” Chavan had said.
“Every political functionary has to take a decision after a lot of thinking. We also have to see that nobody’s sentiments are hurt,” the BJP leader added.
Adityanath had used the slogan ‘Batenge to katenge, ek rahenge to nek rahenge’ for the first time in August to call for unity as Hindus were targeted in Bangladesh after the fall of Sheikh Hasina-led government.
“Nothing can be above the nation. And the nation will be empowered only when we are united. ‘Batenge to Katenge’. You are seeing what is happening in Bangladesh. Those mistakes should not be repeated here… ‘Batenge to Katenge, Ek Rahenge to Nek Rahenge,” the UP chief minister had said at a public meeting.
The Uttar Pradesh chief minister and several other BJP leaders have repeated the slogan frequently during their campaign trail in both Maharashtra and Jharkhand. “If we are divided, then Ganapati pooja would be attacked, lands would be grabbed under Land Jihad, safety of daughters would be in danger… There is no Love Jihad or Land Jihad in UP today. It was already announced that if anyone hampers the security of our daughters, grabbed the land of government and the poor, then ‘Yamraj’ would be ready to cut their ticket,” Adityanath said at a poll rally in Amravati.
The strong retort by Fadnavis today targets not just the opposition but also sends a clear message to NCP, which has had an uneasy existence in the Mahayuti after its failure in the Lok Sabha elections. In the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, the Mahayuti could win only 17 out of 48 seats. Ajit Pawar’s NCP was the worst performer winning only 1 out of the 4 seats it contested.

After the results, the RSS had openly criticised the BJP for joining hands with Ajit Pawar and had attributed this one “wrong move” for NDA’s drubbing in Lok Sabha elections. An article in “Organiser” magazine, which is linked to the RSS, had slammed BJP’s move and called it “unnecessary politicking.” It said the induction of Ajit Pawar’s NCP into NDA had reduced the brand value of BJP.
“Maharashtra is a prime example of unnecessary politicking and avoidable manipulations. NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar joined BJP though BJP and split SS (Shiv Sena) had a comfortable majority. Sharad Pawar would have faded away in two-three years as NCP would have lost energy with infighting between cousins,” RSS lifelong member Ratan Sharda had said in the article.
“Why was this ill-advised step taken? BJP supporters were hurt because they had fought against this Congress ideology for years and were persecuted. In a single stroke, BJP reduced its brand value. After years of struggle to become numero uno in Maharashtra, it became just another political party without any difference,” he added.
It is in this light that the rather strong response of Fadnavis against Ajit Pawar on the issue of Yogi’s slogan may worry the NCP leadership. In politics, there are no permanent friends or foes. But it is generally unusual for leaders to remind allies of their past to target them when they are on the same side of the divide. More so, Fadnavis reaction could well be a planned warning to the ally or maybe the two leaders are just playing to their galleries and consolidating their supporters.