The controversy arising from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s remark, ‘Batoge to Katoge’ (divided, will perish), refuses to die down. On Friday, Congress State President Ajay Rai responded to the statement by saying, ‘Nobody is dividing the people except the BJP. The Opposition INDIA alliance and Congress are doing their bit to unite the nation.”

On the other hand, Samaj Party leader and Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad said, “Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who raised the slogan ‘Batoge to Katoge’ during election rallies, is himself dividing society into ‘Harijan’ and ‘Non-Harijan’ on social, cultural and religious platforms.”

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“Does the use of this word ‘Harijan’ not put their so-called Hindu status in jeopardy,” he asked.

Meanwhile, as a counter to the Yogi’s slogan, the Samajwadi Party put up a new poster in Lucknow on Friday with the photo of Akhilesh Yadav alongside a text message reading: “If we join, we will win”.

Earlier, the SP had put up a poster on the birthday of Akhilesh Yadav describing him as ‘Ruler of 2027’. At this, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak took a jibe at Yadav saying, “SP people do leadership sitting in AC room. They have nothing to do with the people of the state. Whenever they came to power, goons and scoundrels proliferated. The people of the state know him very well.”