Yogi Adityanath's remark that if voters made a mistake, Uttar Pradesh will quickly become Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, or Kerala sparked a political tempest on Thursday, prompting angry reactions from former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Mr. Gandhi, who represents Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, stated that the spirit of India should not be "insulted," as it represents a union of States, people, cultures, languages, and their variety.
Mr. Vijayan tweeted that if Uttar Pradesh became Kerala, it would have better education, health care, and living standards, as well as a society where "people won't be slaughtered in the name of religion and caste."
Mamata Banarjee, who has campaigned in Uttar Pradesh for Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, did not directly respond to the remark, but she did assert that her government had done more for the poor than U.P. and questioned Mr. Aditynath's credentials as a sadhu (seer).
Former Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah also tweeted that J&K has lower poverty, higher human development indices, lower crime, and higher living standards than Uttar Pradesh.
Kerala, J&K, and Bengal, all of which claim to have higher development indices than Uttar Pradesh, also have a large Muslim population. The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, on the other hand, made no explicit mention of any particular community.
The debate, which includes representatives from several states, comes just days after Mr. Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi clashed in Parliament over the Centre's approach to states. Mr. Gandhi accused Mr. Modi of trying to "control the States with a stick," while Mr. Modi accused the Congress of dividing the country.
The entire controversy was sparked by a five-minute-54-second video released Wednesday evening in which the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister told voters that their vote was a "blessing" for his "five-year penance" and that this "vote will act as a guarantee for your bhay-mukt jeevan (life without fear)".
"Take care. If you make a mistake, the last five years of hard effort will be washed away. And this time, Uttar Pradesh would become Kashmir, Bengal, or Kerala in no time," Mr. Adityanath stated in a video message.
"If Uttar Pradesh becomes Kerala, as @myogiadiyanath fears, it will have the best education, health care, social welfare, and living standards, as well as a peaceful society where people are not murdered on the basis of religion or caste." "That's what the people of Uttar Pradesh want," responded Kerala's Chief Minister.
Mr. Vijayan later stated that his state led the country in most development metrics, including education, health, sanitation, religious harmony, life expectancy, gender equality, income, and social security, in a statement. The Centre, as well as its different entities, had validated such accomplishments in surveys. NITI Aayog's Multi-dimensional Poverty Index for 2020-21 showed the State to have the least poverty among the various indices. Kerala competed with industrialised nations such as the United States in this area, according to Mr. Vijayan, by lowering the infant death rate to six.
"There is strength in our Union," Mr. Gandhi stated in a tweet. Our Cultural Union. Our Multicultural Union. The Union of Languages is a group of languages that have come together to form a Our People's Union. Our Confederation of States. From Kashmir to Kerala, we've got you covered. From Gujarat to West Bengal, there's a plenty to see. India is stunning in all of its hues. Don't offend India's spirit."
V.D. Satheesan, the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly and a Congress leader, similarly urged voters in Uttar Pradesh to vote and "choose plurality, peace, and inclusive development over mediaeval intolerance."
Shashi Tharoor, a Thiruvananthapuram MP, stated in a tweet that Uttar Pradesh would be "very lucky" if it received "Kashmir's beauty, Bengal's culture, and Kerala's education."
"Stop dividing our people by region and religion simply because you have no achievements to ask for votes on," Congress general secretary K. C. Venugopal tweeted.
Under fire, Kerala BJP's K. Surendran claimed Mr. Adityanath's views were a commentary on alleged misgovernance that had hampered Kerala's growth, and questioned why Chief Minister Vijayan flew to the United States for treatment while bragging about the state's achievements in various sectors, including healthcare. The BJP also accused Kerala's administration of being lenient on extremists and failing miserably to prevent the growth of COVID-19 in the state.
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