Padma Mohanty
New Delhi: UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on March 31st at a rally in Ghaziabad referred the Indian Army as “Modi Ji Ki Sena”. Based on this remark the Ghaziabad district magistrate had submitted a video clip of Mr. Adityanath saying “Modi Ji Ki Sena” to the Election Commission (EC). Soon after this, the EC had asked him for a reply by April 5th. After his reply, the EC asked him to be extra careful while delivering speeches at public rallies.
Yogi Adityanath was actually comparing his government doing with the Congress government doings, referring to the recent Balakot air strike which was done during his Government time he called the Indian Army as ‘Modi Ji Ki Sena’ as the strike was done under the governance of PM Narendra Modi.
Preview of what Yogi Adityanath told on March 31st which has landed him into this controversy:-
“Congress ke log atankwadiyon ko biryani khilate thhay, aur Modiji ki Sena atankwadiyon ko goli aur gola deti hai. Yahi antar hai. Congress ke log Azhar Masood jaise atankwadiyon ke saath ‘ji’ laga karke atankwad ko protsahit karti hai. Aur Modiji ke netritva mein, aaj aanankwad ko, unke thikano ko nasht aur dhwast karke aantankwad ki hi nahi, Pakistan ki kamar todne ka kaam BJP ki Sarkar kar rahi hai.”
This remark was highly criticized by the opposition, many Congress leaders demanded an apology from the UP Chief Minister and said that the army is not their private property, it was an insult to the Army. Even former Navy Chief L Ramdas had also complained to the EC. As the EC has already issued a code of conduct for all the parties to follow during their campaigns and during polling from March 10th, 2019, the main purpose of this code of conduct is to ensure that the ruling parties at center and the state do not misuse their positions to gain an advantage. After that also Yogi Adityanath said like this in a public rally.
In the reply to the Election Commission, Yogi Adityanath defended himself saying that by “Modi Ji Ki Sena”, he meant the country’s army; he has not done anything wrong because the President, the Supreme Commander of the armed forces, acts on the advice of the government headed by the Prime Minister, who is now Narendra Modi.
On this reply of Yogi Adityanath, the EC asked him to be careful in the future while addressing the public. The EC also told that since he is a senior politician holding an important position, his remarks should reflect his stature. After EC’s cold attitude towards the UP Chief Minister, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted, “Has the MCC (model of code of conduct) become ‘Modi Code of Conduct. Adityanath insults the Indian Army- EC writes a love letter to him.” The EC reaction to Yogi Adityanath’s comment was very light as compared to the action taken against opposition parties. EC has removed the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh (who was a preferred officer AP Chief Minister) over an issue of compliance with a previous order.
