Yogi, Capt Amarinder spar over Punjab naming Malerkotla as district

Ravi S Singh
Tribune News Service
New Delhi/Chandigarh, May 15

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday hit out at the Punjab government for declaring Malerkotla as an independent revenue district of the state.

In effect, the full spectrum of the past and present political circumstances leading up to announcement of Malerkotla as the 23rd district of Punjab, and the retaliatory retort from Adityanath is harbinger of the blowing gentle political winds of the forthcoming assembly elections in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, which will be held during next spring season.

मत और मजहब के आधार पर किसी प्रकार का विभेद भारत के संविधान की मूल भावना के विपरीत है।

इस समय, मलेरकोटला (पंजाब) का गठन किया जाना कांग्रेस की विभाजनकारी नीति का परिचायक है।

— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) May 15, 2021

The election in the two states along with Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa are simultaneously due in February-March next year.

Taking exception to the declaration of Malerkotla as a separate district, Adityanath said any kind of discrimination based on ideology and religion is against the fundamental spirit of the Constitution.

Slamming Yogi Adityanath over his "inflammatory" tweet on the declaration of Malerkotla as the 23rd district of Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh termed it an attempt to incite communal hatred in the peaceful state as part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s divisive policies.

Contrasting the communal harmony in Punjab with the divisiveness being promoted by the Yogi Adiyanath government in Uttar Pradesh, Amarinder Singh asked the former to stay out of his state’s affairs, which are in much better shape than those in UP under the divisive and destructive BJP government, which has been actively promoting communal discord in the state for the past over four years.

“What does he (Yogi Adityanath) know of Punjab’s ethos or the history of Malerkotla, whose relationship with Sikhism and its Gurus was known to every Punjabi? And what does he understand of the Indian Constitution, which is being brazenly trampled every day by his own government in UP?” asked the Chief Minister, in a strong reaction to his UP counterpart’s tweet, describing Malerkotla’s new status as a “sign of the divisive policies of the Congress.”

Lambasting the ruling Congress in Punjab, Yogi said the creation of Malerkotla as a district at this juncture was testimony to Congress’ policy of divisive politics.

“Ideological and religious driven discrimination of any kind is against the basic spirit of the Constitution,” Adityanath tweeted and added that creation of the district is testimony to the Congress policy of divisive politics.

Creation of Malerkotla was an electoral promise of the Congress, made during the last Assembly election in Punjab.

Malerkotla township and the assembly constituency are preponderated with Muslim population.

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh announced Malerkotla as a new district of the state on Friday on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr festival.

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