In Jharkhand and Maharashtra, Yogi Unleashes Rhetoric of Hatred to Mobilise Hindus Behind BJP (The Wire)

'Let your might be felt. And these stone-pelters will be seen with brooms in their hands sweeping the streets for you,' the Uttar Pradesh chief minister said at a rally.

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Adityanath in video screengrabs from his rallies. Photo: X/@myogiadityanath

By Omar Rashid

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath’s campaign trail in Jharkhand and Maharashtra has all been about consolidating the Hindu vote through the demonisation of  Muslims and the promise of a UP-model style of government to ruthlessly deal with ‘stone-pelters’ who supposedly disrupt Hindu festivals – a coded reference to Muslims.

By peddling the conspiracy theories of ‘land jihad,’ ‘love jihad,’ and ‘demographic change’ due to the influx of Bangladeshis and the Rohingya, Adityanath, one of the most popular campaigners of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has unpacked his warning of ‘batenge toh katenge’  in both states. The slogan translates to ‘[we will be] slaughtered if divided,’ and ostensibly refers to Hindus.

In half-a-dozen rallies by Adityanath in Maharashtra and Jharkhand this week, not only did the theme of Ram Mandir and Hindu festivals dominate, but he also made veiled promises that the Hindu Right would take over mosques in Varanasi and Mathura just like it did in Ayodhya, where the Ram Mandir was built.

In Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, Adityanath accused the Hemant Soren-led government of allowing ‘ghuspaith’ or ‘infiltration’ of people from Bangladesh and Myanmar in a bid to cause ‘demographic change.’ The government led by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha made “love jihad and land jihad a part of a conspiracy to change the demography” of the state,” said Adityanath.

This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.

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