Lucknow, Jul 26: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday took a swipe at the Opposition grouping saying changing the name will not “change your game”. The firebrand BJP leader said that using the name I.N.D.I.A, an acronym for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, will not “end the divisive thinking and anti-India vision”.
The Congress-led grouping of opposition parties and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has been trading barbs over the newly adopted alliance name by the former. “Even if the crow names itself swan, it will not be able to pick the pearl,” Yogi Adityanath said in a tweet in Hindi. “Changing the name will not change their basic nature. Just by using the name INDIA, the divisive thinking and anti-India vision created in the soul and culture will not end,” he said.
In another tweet, the chief minister said, “Changing your name will not change your game! It's INDIA Vs I.N.D.I.A.”
Adityanath's swipe at the opposition parties comes hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi derided the grouping as the most directionless the country had ever seen and cited reviled names such as East India Company and Indian Mujahideen to assert that people cannot be misled merely by the use of the country's name. The prime minister cited the history of several organizations, including some banned extremist and terror outfits using the country's name, and panned the grouping as a collection of corrupt leaders and parties. Even the Indian National Congress, the main opposition party, was named so by an Englishman A O Hume, he said, according to a PTI report.
Reacting to his remarks, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said "Call us whatever you want", but "we are INDIA" and will rebuild the idea of India in Manipur. Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said while "we are talking about Manipur, which is burning", the prime minister is "talking about East India (Company) and saying INDIA means East India (Company)".