UP BJP MLA Vikram Saini calls entire Nehru family 'ayyash'
Muzaffarnagar (UP), Sep 18: In a derogatory reference to Jawaharlal Nehru, a BJP legislator has called his entire family ayyash' a word that connotes pleasure seeking and self indulgence.
The Khatauli MLA said this at the sidelines of an event here to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday on Tuesday.
Nehru to ayyash tha, he said in Hindi, referring to the country's first prime minister.
The entire family was `ayyash'. Rajiv (Gandhi) married in Italy, Saini added.
Questioned by a television channel later about his remarks, the MLA claimed he was saying only what he had read about Nehru in books and magazines.
He was a colourful character, he had a relationship with an Englishwoman, he added.
When pressed about his use of the Urdu word, he said, I am sorry if anyone has been hurt by this. It won't happen again, he later said.
When contacted, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma refused to comment on the issue.
Saini triggered a row last month, saying the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status will enable men from the rest of India to find wives from that region.
The politician was accused of inciting violence during the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.
#WATCH: BJP MLA from Muzaffarnagar's Khatauli, Vikram Singh Saini reacts on his post on PM Modi&JL Nehru. Says "...Nehru aiyyash tha, angrezon ke chakkar mein aake desh ka bantwara kara diya. Poora khandan aiyyash tha. Rajiv ne shaadi Italy mein ki. Inka kaam hi aisa raha."(17.9) pic.twitter.com/Lx8UVnzzpQ
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 18, 2019
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
