"Read Books Again": Akhilesh Yadav Doubles Down On Jinnah Remark
NDTV
With months to go for Uttar Pradesh elections, the remark by Akhilesh Yadav on the founder of Pakistan Muhammed Ali Jinnah triggered a huge political controversy
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has doubled down on his remarks on Pakistan's founder Muhammed Ali Jinnah, days after the BJP criticised him severely for putting Mr Jinnah and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel inside the same bracket. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had called the remarks as coming from a man with a "Talibani mindset".
At an election campaign in UP's Hardoi on October 31, Mr Yadav had praised the country's first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Sardar Patel on his 146th birth anniversary. Then he added, "Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Jinnah studied at the same institute and became barristers. They became barristers and they fought for India's freedom. They never backed away from any struggle".
With months to go for the UP elections, the remark on the founder of Pakistan triggered a huge political controversy, with the BJP leadership and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi roasting the Samajwadi Party chief.
Today, when reporters asked Mr Yadav at an event about the controversy, he replied, "Why should I say the context? I would say read the books again."
