Battle for Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, which are to be conducted in 2022, has already begun, with political parties campaigning all over the state. 

On Sunday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath claimed that before the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the state in 2017 only one community was getting ration and under PM’s Modi leadership there is no place for appeasement politics. 

In an official function in Kushinagar, UP, CM Yogi Adityanath said that the BJP does not look at anyone’s face before providing them benefits such as toilets or grains, as opposed to the appeasement politics by previous governments. 

“Are you getting ration? Did you get this ration prior to 2017? Back then, those who say ‘abba jaan’ would digest all the ration. Kushinagar’s ration would end up in Nepal and Bangladesh. If today anyone tries to swallow the ration of the poor, that person will land in jail,” Mr. Adityanath said.

Adityanath added that under his regime if someone attempted to take away ration from the poor, the individual “will definitely land in jail”.

In several parts of the country, Muslims use the phrase ‘abba jaan’ to refer to their fathers or as an endearment. However, in the recent context in the State’s politics, it also appears to be an attack on Mr. Adityanath’s rival and president of the Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh.

The ‘Abba Jaan’ jibe isn’t any new jibe from CM Yogi Adityanath and has been used several times previously. Recently, in an interview to a television channel, when asked about the work done in the State since 2017, Mr. Adityanath took a swipe at Mr. Yadav’s father and referred to the firing on the ‘kar sevaks’ in 1990 under his tenure, when the Ram Janmabhoomi movement was in peak, and the ongoing construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

“His ‘Abba jaan’ would say that he would not allow even a bird to fly ,” Mr. Adityanath said, underlining the fact that the BJP had fulfilled its promise of building a Ram Mandir.

Though, there is still confusion over CM Yogi Adityanath’s comments, CM Yogi’s remarks created a furore, inviting stringent criticism from AIMIM’s leader Owaisi, and former J&K CM Omar Abdullah hitting back at the U.P CM, accusing him and his party BJP of peddling anti-Muslim agenda to win elections in the state, claiming that the chief minister is seeking re-election claiming that Muslims ate up all the rations meant for Hindus.

In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP won a landslide victory winning 312 Assembly seats. The party secured a 39.67 per cent vote share in the elections for 403-member Assembly. Samajwadi Party (SP) bagged 47 seats, BSP won 19 while Congress could manage to win only seven seats. 

Uttar Pradesh will go to polls early next year.