Abba jaan’ row rears its head over cartoon in UP
Lucknow: The ‘abba jaan’ controversy in Uttar Pradesh politics refuses to die down and a cartoon on the row went viral on Monday .
The BJP has purportedly stoked the row by coming up with a cartoon that takes a dig at All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav.
In the cartoon, Owaisi and Akhilesh Yadav are shown as Mughal emperor Jehangir and Anarkali who are seen reclining on a sack of rations, ostensibly meant for the poor, while ‘abba jaan’ Mulayam Singh Yadav looks on.
In the second part of the cartoon, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is seen distributing ration to the poor.
It may be recalled that recently, Yogi Adityanath had said that those who talk of ‘abba jaan’ are the ones who ate up the ration meant for the poor.
“Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, there is no place for appeasement politics. Before 2017, was everyone able to get ration? Earlier only those who used to say ‘abba jaan’ were digesting the ration,” Adityanath had said in Kushinagar.
Akhilesh Yadav and Owaisi, along with several other opposition leaders, had hit out at the chief minister for his remarks.
This led to a major furore across the opposition parties, who accused Adityanath of blatant communalism.
On the other hand, Akhilesh Yadav said, “Even after over four years, this government is changing names and colours, claiming the work done by the SP government as its own. As they know that their government is on its way out, the language of its head has changed.”
He said a few years ago, when the chief minister had gone to Kushinagar, children and the poor were given soaps and shampoos to first take a bath and then meet him.