People stay in Kashi “when the end nears”, Akhilesh Yadav on PM Modi’s visit to Varanasi; BJP calls comment cruel

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi kickstarted his visit to Varanasi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday remarked jeeringly that people stay in “when the end nears”, sparking condemnation from the BJP which said his taunts were “cruel” and equated the former chief minister with Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

On the first day of his two-day visit to his Lok Sabha constituency, Modi inaugurated the first phase of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham , a project that connects the temple premises to the River Ganga besides providing several facilities to devotees, paid obeisance at the Kaal Bhairav Temple and then took a dip in the Ganga from where he collected holy water for worship at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

Yadav’s taunts aimed at Modi came when he was told by reporters in Etawah in Uttar Pradesh that the prime minister is in Varanasi and that there are plans to hold month-long cultural events in the temple town.

“Bahut achhi baat hai. Ek Maheena nahin, do mahina, teen mahina wahin rahein. Woh jagah rahene wali hai. Aakhri samay par vaheen raha jata hai, Benaras mein,” he said. (It is a very good thing. Not just one month. He should stay there for two months, three months. That’s the place to stay. When the end nears, that’s where one stays – in Benaras). Yadav’s remarks are expected to raise the political heat in UP ahead of the Assembly polls early next year.

According to Hindu beliefs, it is considered auspicious for people to spend the last days of their lives in the holy city of Benaras.

Union minister Pralhad Joshi slammed Yadav, saying his party’s government had fired on ‘kar sevaks’ in Ayodhya and that “such cruel and uncivilised comments show his mindset”.

“If he had any empathy about Hindu beliefs, he would have welcomed the inauguration of Kashi Vishwanath Dham. But all he is bothered about is his vote bank. Political differences are one thing but to wish for someone’s end is condemnable. People will teach him a lesson,” he told reporters in Delhi.

Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said Yadav spoke from the same mindset which had fired bullets on ‘kar sevaks’. Aurangzeb had tried to destroy the Vishwanath Temple, and Yadav now stands with him, he alleged.

BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya slammed Yadav’s comments as “shameful”, and said he has lost his mental balance at the prospects of losing the upcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

Wishing Modi’s end on a day when such a grand work has been accomplished shows his distorted mindset, he alleged.

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the former chief minister’s comments should surprise no one as he believes in the mindset and actions of Aurangzeb.

“The manner in which he has disrespected his own father is known to everybody. This is something reminiscent of the manner in which people who share Aurangzeb’s mindset behave, be it with their father or someone elder,” he said, noting that Yadav had also recently lauded Pakistan’s founder M A Jinnah.

UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh said it is a matter of shame that the SP chief has made such bad remarks on the prime minister. “This shows that his mentallity is that of Aurangzeb and (Mohammad Ali) Jinnah.”

Varanasi is the Lok Sabha constituency of Modi and part of the Purvanchal region, which has 160 seats in the 403-member UP Legislative Assembly.

At his media interaction, Yadav also accused the BJP of telling lies, and said they should “avoid telling lies” before the god.

“They are good at telling lies in front of you and me. But, one should avoid telling lies in front of the god,” he said.

He hit out at the BJP for claiming the credit of developmental works, which he claimed were done by his government.

On Sunday, Akhilesh Yadav had claimed that it was during his tenure that the Kashi Vishwanath corridor project was approved, for which he has “documentary evidence”.

The Samajwadi Party(SP) was in power in the state from 2012 to 2017 before the BJP came to power.



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