By Eshwar
The campaigning for Maharashtra elections concluded on Monday, 18 November, with the usual Muslim hatred being sold in a fresh new package called ‘vote jihad’.
More than Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath’s ‘batenge toh katenge’ (slaughtered if divided) or PM Narendra Modi’s ‘ek hain toh safe hain (we are safe while we are united), ‘vote jihad’ was the highest selling hate-product in the election rallies of Maharashtra.
Over the past six weeks, Devendra Fadnavis, deputy chief minister and home minister of Maharashtra repeatedly claimed ‘vote jihad’ as one of the key reasons for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning just nine out of the 23 seats it contested in the Lok Sabha elections, and has been urging voters to not let it repeat in the Assembly elections.
Last week, he also called the election a ‘dharam yudh’ against vote jihad.
Statements like these, when they come from repeat offenders like Suresh Chavanke or Kajal Hindustani are not new, but it’s another thing when the deputy CM, who’s also the home minister of Maharashtra, makes such unsubstantiated claims.
This story was originally published in thequint.com. Read the full story here.
