Yogi's abba jaan remarks : BJP ally JD(U) unhappy; 'nation belongs to all'

New Delhi: With "abba jaan" remarks of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath stoking a row, JD(U) president Lalan Singh said on Tuesday that political parties should maintain "restraint" in their comments, asserting that the country belongs to everyone, be it Hindus, Muslims, Christians or any other community.

"Terms like 'unity in diversity' are used for our country. The country belongs to all. No remarks should be made that harm the country," Singh, a confidant of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, told reporters when asked for his reaction to the BJP leader's comments.

In this context, he also took a swipe at JMM leader and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren for his remarks allegedly aimed at Bhojpuri and Magahi-speaking people of the state. Everybody has a right to settle in whichever part of the country they like, he said.

Addressing a programme in Kushinagar on Sunday, Adityanath had alleged that people did not get rations before 2017 like they do now. "Because then, people who say 'abba jaan' used to digest the rations.

The rations of Kushinagar used to go to Nepal and Bangladesh. Today, if anybody tries to swallow the rations meant for poor people, he will land in jail," the chief minister said. 'Abba jaan' is the Urdu term for father.

In his press conference, the JD(U) president, a Lok Sabha MP from Munger, also played down the decision of his party, the biggest BJP ally, to send its senior leader K C Tyagi to a rally being organised in Jind on September 25 by INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala, seen as part of effort for forming a non-BJP, non-Congress front.

"We are strongly part of the NDA (BJP-led alliance)," he said and dismissed the talks about the third front, saying his party will attend the rally as it is being organised to mark the birth anniversary of Devi Lal, a towering third front leader of his era.