Union Minister V K Singh Thursday said the armed forces do not belong to an individual but to the nation, even as his colleague Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was caught on camera referring to the Army as 'Modiji ki sena'.
Naqvi's purported remark comes amid a controversy over a similar comment made by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath recently.
However, Naqvi later maintained that he had not said it in as many words. When contacted for comments over the controversy triggered by Adityanath's remark, V K Singh, a retired Army chief, said the Army belongs to the nation. "'Sena kisi ki nahi hoti hai. Sena sirf desh ki hoti hai. Ismey Modi sena kahan se aa gayi' (Army does not belong to an individual. Army only belongs to the nation. Where did Modi army come from?" he said.
At an election rally in Rampur on Wednesday, the footage of which has gone viral on social and electronic media, Naqvi said, "Our missiles, our defence personnel annihilated the terrorists after storming their bastions. This is not an ordinary feat." "'Ab dikkat yeh hui ki Congress party, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party sab chilaane lage ki bhai yeh jo Modi ji ne ghus ghus kar, Modiji ki sena ne ghus ghus kar ke aatankwaadiyo ko tabaah kiyaa uskaa saboot to dikhaa do' (But the problem is that the Congress, SP and BSP started demanding proof of the attack carried out by 'Modiji ki sena')," he added.
On Thursday evening, Naqvi told PTI over phone, "I might have said 'meri sena, aapki sena, har aadmi ki sena' (my Army, your army, everyone's Army)." The Election Commission has issued a showcause notice to Adityanath for his 'Modi ji ki sena' remark made during a poll rally at Ghaziabad earlier this week. Sources in the poll panel said, prima facie, Adityanath has violated the EC's advisory of keeping armed forces away from political campaign.
Adityanath, who addressed election meetings in Ghaziabad and Greater Noida on Sunday, had lashed out at the Congress for what he called was its "soft approach towards terrorism and terrorists".
"Congress ke log aatankwadiyon ko biryani khilate the aur Modiji ki sena aatankwadiyon ko goli aur gola deti hai. (Congress leaders would feed biryani to terrorists, while Modi's army gives them bullets and bombs). This is the difference. The Congress people use 'ji' to refer to (JeM chief) Masood Azhar to encourage terrorism," the Uttar Pradesh chief minister had said at the Ghaziabad election rally.
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