PM Modi takes ‘chacha-bhatija party’ jibe at SP

LUCKNOW Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday dubbed the Samajwadi Party (SP) as a “chacha-bhatija (uncle-nephew) party” and spoke of his government’s decision to scrap the triple talaq (instant divorce) practice, prevalent among a section of Muslims, as a landmark move that benefitted women of the country’s biggest minority group.

Modi said this while interacting with BJP members from Uttar Pradesh via the NaMo App. He addressed cadres of 10 Lok Sabha constituencies that will go to polls in the third phase on May 7 and called them the face of the party as they stay connected with the voters all round the year.

These constituencies include Badaun, Bareilly, Fatehpur Sikri, Sambhal, Aonla, Hathras, Firozabad, Etah, Mainpuri and Agra that have sizeable Muslim presence. Party leaders and workers, who attended the PM’s virtual address, said they would take the “Modi word” to the masses.

“People of UP are fed up of the ‘Chacha-Bhatija party’. We have always been against dynastic politics and this stand of ours is meant to promote merit,” Modi said.

The ‘Chacha Bhatija’ jibe was directed at Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav who have been in the news since Tuesday, following Shivpal’s decision to back out of the Badaun Lok Sabha contest and propose his son Aditya as a candidate instead.

In the address, in which all booth level presidents were logged in along with senior party leaders, Modi also referred to his government’s decision to scrap the triple talaq practice.

“Ever since a law against the triple talaq practice, not just women, even elderly members of their families believe that now their daughters are secure,” Modi said in his virtual interaction. In August 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the triple talaq practice was illegal, unconstitutional, and violative of Article 14.

In 2019, the Modi government introduced the Triple Talaq bill making the instant divorce practice a criminal offence, and ever since, the decision has always figured in BJP’s poll talk as a landmark move that no other party could think of due to ‘appeasement’ politics.

The PM also reminded the cadres of ensuring impeccable conduct as people considered them as BJP’s and his emissaries. “”All of you (BJP workers) are in direct contact with voters. Whatever you tell the masses has its own value... for them, you are the face of the BJP,” he said.

He also reminded the cadres of the value of securing their booth. “The soul of elections rests in the booth and thus securing and winning each booth should be the main aim of booth chiefs,” Modi said.

He said when people start believing in a political party and its commitments, they start batting for that party. “In such a scenario, the election isn’t contested by any leader but by the masses. This is the scene now and that is why everywhere the masses are handing out the message, ‘phir ek baar Modi sarkar (Modi government once again),” added the PM.