Lucknow: Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav courted controversy on Wednesday when he asked why the martyrs were not from the state of Gujarat.
Remarks - appearing to be questioning the patriotism of people from Gujarat - stemmed from "frustration", the BJP said.
"UP, Madhya Pradesh, Dakshin Bharat har jagah se shaheed huye hain, Gujarat ka koi jawan shaheed hua ho toh batao (Jawans from UP, Madhya Pradesh, South India and other parts of the country have sacrificed their lives but tell me whether anyone has been martyred from Gujarat)," PTI quoted Akhilesh as saying.
Without alluding to BJP, he said, "They play politics in the name of martyrs, vande matram and nationalism. What is their definition (of nationalism)? They do not even consider us Hindus."
The former UP CM was apparently taking potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a former Gujarat CM, whose rise in national politics has been ascribed to aggressive nationalism by his opponents.
Reacting sharply to Yadav's statement, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said, "His talk and politics have been discarded by the people of the state. That is the reason why he is making such statements in frustration."
Denouncing the comments of Yadav, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, as "unwarranted", Maurya said those laying down their lives for the country were Indians first.
(with PTI inputs)
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