Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s slogan ‘Bantenge to kateng’ has been a topic of discussion in Haryana elections.
Now this political experiment has started in Maharashtra as well.
A few days ago, hoardings with the message ‘Bantenge to kateng’ were seen in Mumbai and Thane along with the photo of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Voting for the assembly elections in Maharashtra is to be held on November 20.
Along with this, in the coming days, about 15 meetings of Yogi Adityanath will be held in different parts of Maharashtra.
In such a situation, the biggest question is whether Yogi and his slogan will be successful in Maharashtra after Haryana?
What does the slogan ‘Bantenge to kateng’ actually mean?
When did the slogan ‘Bantenge to kateng’ come?
Voting will be held on November 20 for 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra. In the 2019 assembly elections, BJP was the number one party in Maharashtra.
At that time, BJP won the most seats, but in the recently held Lok Sabha elections, BJP did not get the expected success in Maharashtra.
Due to this, BJP has now made a new strategy for every assembly.
In the next 15 days, many election meetings of top BJP leaders are to be held in Maharashtra. In this, about 15 election meetings of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be held.
A few days ago, banners of Yogi Adityanath were hoisted in many areas of Mumbai like Andheri, Bandra Kala Nagar, Thane, Jogeshwari.
These banners had Yogi Adityanath’s slogan given in Uttar Pradesh and then Haryana elections, ‘Bantenge to Katenge’ written on them. These banners were put up by Mumbai BJP party member Vishwabandhu Rai.
Speaking to BBC Marathi, Vishwabandhu Rai said, “Yogi Adityanath has many fans in Mumbai and Maharashtra. I had put up banners to give the message that Hindus should unite in the upcoming elections in Maharashtra.”
He says, “Yogi Adityanath had given the slogan that instead of dividing into different castes, stay together as Hindus. That is why these banners were put up in Mumbai as well.”
This August, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while commenting on the situation in Bangladesh at a meeting in Agra, had said, “Nothing can be bigger than a nation. A nation can remain strong only when we remain united and religious. If we are divided, we will be torn apart.”
He had also said, “You see in Bangladesh, this mistake should not happen here.”
“Stay united, stay honest, stay safe, we have to work towards realizing the concept of a developed India.”
How big is the challenge before Yogi Adityanath?
After this statement Yogi Adityanath, many national-level opposition leaders also criticized it.
Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav recently commented on this and said, “No political party in the history of the country has given a more negative slogan than this.”
At the same time, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi also said, “In Yogi Adityanath’s state, the houses of Muslims are being demolished with the help of bulldozers. He gives hate speeches against Muslims. He says he will kill them. Such statements come from his mouth.”
Meanwhile, after the posters of Yogi’s ‘slogan’ surfaced in Maharashtra, politics has heated up here too. Shiv Sena Thackeray faction MP Sanjay Raut has targeted Yogi Adityanath over this slogan.
He said, “There will be neither division nor cut on Chhatrapati’s land.”
Speaking to the media, he said, “Yogi Adityanath is our good friend. We respect him. He is our Babaji, but if we talk about elections and politics, what will he do by coming to Maharashtra?”
“He could not save his party in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha. The party could not be saved in Ayodhya, Chitrakoot. So what will he do in Maharashtra? Here in Maharashtra, he will give provocative speeches, spoil the atmosphere.”
Sanjay Raut said about Maharashtra’s politics, “Maharashtra belongs to Shahu, Phule and Ambedkar. Neither will anyone be divided nor cut on the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.”
Meanwhile, MP Amol Kolhe has alleged that this banner has been put up at the behest of Yogi Adityanath.
In a speech, he said, “These banners have been put up at the request of Yogi Adityanath. Those who say that division will be cut should also tell us why the employment of the youth of Maharashtra was cut and taken to Gujarat?”
“Why was the right of farmers to loan waiver cut? Why was the right of Marathi parties cut? Why was the pocket of the common man cut?”
‘Not Modi, now Yogi is the focus
BJP did not get the expected success in the Lok Sabha elections across the country. BJP also suffered a setback in states like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. In many places, it was also seen that the Modi wave has faded.
As an alternative, political analysts are of the opinion that slogans like ‘If divided, they will be cut off’ are being given because there is a fear that Yogi and Hindu votes will not unite.
Senior journalist Abhay Deshpande believes that Muslim votes were polarized in the Lok Sabha elections, but not Hindu votes, so slogans like Jihad and If divided, they will be cut off are given in the elections.
But how much impact will these discussions have on the Maharashtra elections?
In response to this question, Abhay Deshpande says, “In the last few years, Maharashtra has seen conflicts between OBCs against Marathas and tribals against Dhangars. Due to this, the issue of reservation is in full swing in this election.”
“That is why religious polarization is not being successful in Maharashtra. Yogi Adityanath is being brought to Maharashtra not just for North Indian votes but as a Hindu icon.”
On the other hand, senior journalist and political analyst Suhas Palashikar believes that this is an attempt by the BJP to control Maratha and OBC-based voting in Maharashtra.
He says, “This is an attempt to unite Hindus, by doing this they are trying to control caste-based voting. It is not that this attempt will not benefit the BJP. There may be some benefit and they are creating such an atmosphere.”
