Akhilesh Yadav ally Rajbhar courts controversy: 'If Jinnah had been made first PM of India..."
With the nearing of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls Muhammad Ali Jinnah's name has once again started to figure in election speeches and references. This time, it is Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party president OP Rajbhar, who has courted a controversy by taking the name of 'father of Pakistan.'
Rajbhar said, "Had Jinnah been made the first prime minister, the partition of the country would not have happened," Rajbhar told reporters in Varanasi, and added, "Read Advani Ji’s views, read Atal Ji’s views, read the views of country’s other well-wishers on the prospect of Jinnah having been made the PM. Why did they praise him?" Rajbhar was apparently referring to purported statements of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former Deputy PM L K Advani on Jinnah in the past."
Earlier, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had also likened Jinnah to Sardar Patel and Mahatma Gandhi. Ironically, Samajwadi Party has allied with Rajbhar's party for the Uttar Pradesh elections.
Addressing a public meeting in Hardoi, the SP leader had said, "Sardar Patel understood the ground and he made decisions accordingly.
Hence, he is also known as Iron Man. Sardar Patel, Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and (Muhammad Ali) Jinnah studied in the same institute and became barristers. They helped (India) get freedom and never backed away from any struggle," he had said.
