Kharge's mother and sister had died in Razakar attack but he keeps mum for Muslim vote bank: UP CM
Amravati, Nov 12: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday claimed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge purposely keeps mum on the tragic death of his mother and sister in an attack by Razakars as he feared losing Muslim votes.
Days after Kharge criticised the seer-turned-politician on his saffron attire and "Batenge to Katenge" slogan, Adityanath launched a strong counterattack at a poll rally in Maharashtra's Amravati.
He accused the Congress veteran of suppressing these painful personal memories for political expediency.
Adityanath alleged Congress ignores historical atrocities for the sake of vote bank politics.
Kharge has conveniently forgotten the history of the Razakars under the Nizam of Hyderabad despite the personal loss he had suffered, Adityanath said.
"(Mallikarjun) Kharge's village, Varawatti, was also burned down by Razakars, and his mother, aunt, and sister died in the attacks," Adityanath claimed.
He alleged Kharge was suppressing this truth fearing he might lose Muslim votes if he spoke about atrocities committed by the Nizam's forces.
"Congress is trying to reject history and Kharge has conveniently forgotten what happened to his family, just for vote bank politics," said the Uttar Pradesh chief minister.
The Razakars was a paramilitary force that operated in the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad with a primary objective to maintain the rule of the Muslim Nizams of Hyderabad and prevent the accession of Hyderabad to India.
The UP CM further alleged that the historical leadership of Congress compromised with the Muslim League in 1946, resulting in the division of India and the killing of Hindus.
"When the Nizam realised during the Independence movement that he could not remain independent, he resorted to killing Hindus," said Adityanath.
He claimed B R Ambedkar had advised Hindus and Scheduled Castes to move to Maharashtra for their safety (from the Nizam-ruled territory).
Adityanath also warned against divisions within the nation.
“If you are divided, your daughters will become unsafe, temples will be attacked, and communities targeted. This is the reality of what happens when you are not united," Adityanath said while drawing a parallel with the "rise of instances of love jihad and land jihad in Maharashtra" and blaming the erstwhile Congress governments.
During a poll rally, Kharge had said, "Many leaders live in the guise of sadhus and have now become politicians" in a veiled attack on Adityanath.
"On the one hand, you wear 'gerua' (saffron) clothes, and on the other hand, you say 'batoge to katoge'. I would say to the BJP, either wear white clothes or if you are a sanyasi, wear 'gerua' clothes, but then get out of politics," Kharge had said.
#WATCH | Maharashtra: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath says, "These days Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge is unnecessarily getting angry at me, he is furious. Kharge ji, don't get angry at me, I respect your age. If you want to get angry, get angry at Hyderabad… pic.twitter.com/ERMllgi1Cg
— ANI (@ANI) November 12, 2024
#WATCH | Mumbai: At the 'Samvidhan Bachao Sammelan', Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge says, "Many leaders live in the guise of sadhus and have now become politicians. Some have even become chief ministers. They wear 'gerua' clothes and have no hair on their… pic.twitter.com/wLnFkNNNz7
— ANI (@ANI) November 10, 2024
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Wayanad LS bypoll: Priyanka crosses lead achieved by Rahul in 2024 Lok Sabha polls
Wayanad (Kerala) (PTI): Top Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was on Saturday comfortably cruising towards her maiden electoral win from Wayanad in Kerala, as she surpassed the lead achieved by her brother Rahul Gandhi in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls earlier this year with party leaders and ally IUML predicting a big win for her amid the counting trends.
The Congress-led UDF's candidate from this hill constituency, Priyanka, extended her lead by over 3.8 lakh votes after five hours of counting of the ballots in the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll, according to the Election Commission.
Reacting to the lead achieved by Priyanka, Congress' ally Indian Union Muslim League and Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said she would get more votes than her brother Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha polls in April this year and will win by a record margin.
"An amazing first trend on counting day is the massive early lead for our leader @priyankagandhi ji in Wayanad, Kerala, by-election. People of Wayanad are surely going to record in victory margins today and Priyanka ji will make Parliamentary debut with a grand win," Reddy said in a post on 'X'.
IUML supremo Panakkad Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said that going by the trends, Priyanka will get more votes than what Rahul got and the majority she achieves would also be higher than that of her brother.
A similar view was expressed by IUML's national general secretary P K Kunhalikutty.
On the other hand, BJP leader Anil K Antony, earlier in the day, had claimed that though Priyanka has achieved a good lead, her victory margin would be less than what Rahul got in the 2024 and 2019 LS polls in the hill constituency.
According to the latest EC figures, Priyanka had a lead of 3,82,975 with 5,78,526 votes. LDF's Sathyan Mokeri was behind her with 1,95,551 votes and NDA's Navya Haridas was in the third spot with 1,04,947 votes.
Rahul had got 6,47,445 votes and won by a margin of 3,64,422 votes against his nearest rival, CPI's Annie Raja, in the LS polls this year. In 2019, he had got 7,06,367 votes and had won by a margin of 4,31,770 votes.
After winning from Rae Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh as well, in this year's polls, Rahul vacated the Wayanad seat, and the party nominated his sister Priyanka, paving the way for her electoral debut.
The bypoll turnout in Wayanad, which has over 14 lakh registered voters, was around 65 per cent, a decline from the close to 74 per cent in the LS polls held in April this year and much lower than the over 80 per cent turnout in the hill constituency in the 2019 general elections.
The counting of votes commenced at 8 am with postal ballots being taken up first.
The strong rooms, where the EVMs were kept, were opened more than an hour before counting began.
The bypoll for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat was held on November 13.
Of the 16 candidates who contested, the main contenders are Priyanka, ruling CPI(M)-led LDF's Sathyan Mokeri, a political veteran, and BJP-headed NDA's Navya Haridas.
