NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “ek hain toh safe hain” remark, claiming that the people of Maharashtra want to be “safer” and “that’s why we want to remove BJP“.
“Why has the need arisen for the PM to say things like these. ‘Batenge toh katenge’ did not work here and the people of Maharashtra threw it out. Now ‘ek hain toh safe hain’, who is he trying to unite and who is he trying to save? Are all the people of the state and country not yours? We are safe in Maharashtra and we want to be safer so we will throw BJP out.”
Speaking at a rally in Dhule, PM Modi had asked people to stay united, saying “Ek hai, toh safe hai.”
“The sole agenda of the Congress party is to make one caste fight against another. They do not want SCs, STs and OBCs to progress and get their due recognition … Remember, ‘Ek hai toh safe hai’,” he said on Friday.
The Prime Minister’s latest slogan comes amid growing controversy surrounding Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s recent statement, “Batenge toh katenge” (If we speak, they will be cut down). The UP CM first used the phrase at a rally in Agra, referring to the violence against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh. The expression has sparked debate, with critics questioning its implications. Following this, both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat made similar calls for Hindu unity. During his annual Vijayadashami speech this year, Bhagwat warned that “being disorganised and weak invites atrocities from the wicked.”
Adityanath later repeated the slogan during an election rally in Maharashtra, where he was campaigning for the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
In his first campaign rally for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections, PM Modi launched a sharp attack on the Congress party. He accused the party, along with the Nehru-Gandhi family, of consistently opposing reservation policies since the era of Jawaharlal Nehru. He further alleged that now, their “fourth-generation prince” (Rahul Gandhi) was promoting caste divisions.
“Since Nehru’s time, Congress and his family have opposed reservation, and now their fourth-generation ‘yuvraj’ (prince) is working to sow discord over caste,” Modi remarked.
The Maharashtra Assembly elections will take place on November 20, with results for all 288 constituencies set to be announced on November 23.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, which includes the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), is aiming to regain control of the state. They will face off against the Mahayuti alliance, which brings together the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar.
In the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, the BJP emerged as the largest party with 105 seats, while the Shiv Sena won 56 and Congress secured 44. In the previous 2014 elections, the BJP had a stronger showing with 122 seats, while Shiv Sena garnered 63 and Congress won 42 seats.