Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath was waned by the Election Commission on Friday, five days after he referred to the Indian Army as “Modiji ki Sena” at an election rally in Uttar Pradesh. “Be careful in your utterances in the future,” news agency PTI quoted the poll body as saying.
Yogi Adityanath had made the controversial remark at a rally in Ghaziabad on Sunday. “Congress people used to serve terrorists biryani, but Modiji’s Sena gives them only bullets and bombs. That’s the difference. Congress people use “ji” for terrorists like Masood Azhar, but under the leadership of PM Modi, the BJP government is breaking the backs of terrorists by striking their camps,” he said.
The comment was not received well by opposition leaders and former army officials, who maintained that apolitical entities such as the armed forces should not be dragged into electoral politics.
“It is shocking to hear the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister referring to the Indian Army as the ‘Modi Sena’. Such blatant usurping of our beloved Indian Army is an insult and a humiliation,” said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Yogi Adityanath made the remark despite the Election Commission issuing clear instructions last month that the armed forces, being apolitical and neutral stakeholders in a modern democracy, should not be brought up in poll campaign.
