BJP blasts Akhilesh Yadav for clubbing Jinnah with Gandhi, Nehru, Patel

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav came under fierce attack from the BJP when, during an address on Sunday, he included Muhammad Ali Jinnah to the list of tall leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhai Patel, who struggled for India's independence after becoming barristers.

In poll-mode UP, the BJP said Yadav's "equating" Jinnah - the proponent of India's partition and Pakistan's founder - revealed Yadav's "divisive" mentality and highlighted his "appeasement politics".

"Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Jinnah, all studied in the same institute and became barristers and got us independence. If they had to struggle, they did not shy away from it," Yadav had said in Hardoi. On his birth anniversary, Yadav had praised Patel for his ability to understand ground realities and take decisions which is why he was given the title of 'Iron Man'.


Chief minister Yogi Adityanath called the statement "shameful". Deputy CM Keshav Maurya said Yadav should change his name to 'Akhilesh Ali Jinnah' and that the name 'Namazwadi Party' suited SP better.

"BJP does not have a moral right to point this out when Lal Krishna Advani had in 2005 paid homage to Jinnah at his mausoleum in Pakistan and sung his praises," Rajeev Rai, national secretary and SP spokesperson told ET.

Bihar CM and BJP ally Nitish Kumar said: "Many people played a role in the struggle for independence, and eventually the country was divided. But, for people of the state that was created, the person who formed it will obviously be revered but there is no requirement to talk about these things right now."