Union home minister Amit Shah who is on a two-day visit to Uttar Pradesh’s Purvanchal came up with a new ‘Jinnah’ wordplay to hit out at Samajwadi Party (SP).
“We brought in JAM- J for Jan Dhan account, A for Aadhaar Card, M for mobile phones. Now, SP also said they bought a JAM…which is – J for Jinnah, A for Azam Khan and M for Mukhtar (Ansari),” Shah said at a rally in Azamgarh.
Shah alleged that he came to know of the ‘JAM’ brought by SP from a journalist.
Shah’s remark comes days after SP national president Akhilesh Yadav’s comment on Muhammad Ali Jinnah stoked a row. “Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Mohammed Ali Jinnah studied in the same institute and became barristers. They helped (India) get freedom and never backed away from any struggle,” Yadav had said at a rally.
UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath ripped apart Yadav’s statement claiming that the latter was “comparing ‘desh-todo’ (one responsible for dividing the country) Jinnah with ‘desh-jodo’ (the one who united the country) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.”
“The statement is downright shameful. Sardar Patel is the architect of the country’s unity. At present, work is on to realise the dream of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshth Bharat’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But his (Akhilesh’s) ‘vibhajankaari’ (divisive) mentality has surfaced once again when he compared Sardar Patel to Jinnah. He tried to glorify Jinnah,” he claimed.
Shah, who was in Azamgarh to lay the foundation stone of a university credited the people of the state for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. “You elected Modi ji a second time, and now a grand temple is being constructed in Ayodhya,” Shah said.