New Delhi, Nov 18: Rahul Gandhi on Monday mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Ek hai toh safe hai’ poll slogan and brought a metal Safe at an event to give his version of the catchphrase, prompting the BJP to call the Congress leader a “Chhota popat”.
As curtains came down on the high octane campaign for the Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, Modi’s “If we are united, we are safe” slogan was at the centre of an escalating political slugfest in which top industrialists were also targeted. Voting will be held on Wednesday.
Gandhi brought the metal Safe to his news conference in Mumbai, claiming a link between the slogan and the Dharavi redevelopment project being given to the Adani Group.
He then pulled out two posters from the Safe, one featuring a picture of industrialist Gautam Adani and PM Modi with the caption “Ek hai toh Safe hai,” and another showing a map of the project.
Gandhi sought to draw a parallel between the word “safe” in the slogan and the tendering process in the Dharavi redevelopment project, suggesting it was designed to protect Adani’s interests.
The “Ek hai toh safe hai” slogan primarily serves to help Adani acquire Rs one lakh crore worth land through the Dharavi redevelopment project, he alleged.
“Narendra Modi’s slogan is: If we are united, we are safe. The question is: who is safe,” the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
Gandhi again mocked the slogan at another news conference in Ranchi by claiming that it translated into the “unity” between Prime Minister Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and billionaires like Ambani.
“I will explain the real meaning of BJP’s slogan – ‘Ek hai toh safe hai’. It is if Modi, Shah and Ambani are ‘ek’ (united), then they are ‘safe’,” he said.
After Gandhi’s swipe at the poll slogan, the BJP hit back, calling him “Chhota popat” which it claimed was coined by Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray to mock him.
“It was a very low-level press conference(in Mumbai). Bringing a Safe and creating drama around it. Holding this kind of press conference by the so-called top leader of the so-called national party does not suit Rahul Gandhi and the Congress,” BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra said.
“Today I say this from this platform and in Rahul Gandhi’s language that ‘Chhota popat ne kiya hei Congress ko chaupat’ (he has ruined the Congress). His name is Rahul Gandhi,” the BJP leader said.
“I saw an interview of Bal Thackeray where he referred to Rahul Gandhi as Chhota popat. From today onwards, Rahul Gandhi’s name is going to be ‘Chhota popat’. This name will now be there on every child’s lips in Maharashtra,” he said.
Patra said the word “safe” in the slogan meant “safety, security and keeping people safe from ‘ghuspaithiya (infiltrators)’ but Gandhi took it as ‘tijori’ (a safe to keep money and valuables).
“As is the feeling of a person, so is his understanding. Those who have been breaking into ‘tijoris’ for generations, it’s obvious they will understand the meaning of the word safe as ‘tijori’.”
“’Dada’ (grandfather), ‘pardada’ (great grandfather), ‘dadi’ (grandmother), ‘papa’ (father), ‘mummy’ (mother) all of them have broken into ‘tijoris’,” he said, listing a number of alleged scams including the Coal scam and AugustaWestland VVIP chopper scam which had hogged the headlines during the Congress-led UPA regime at the Centre.
Taking another swipe, the BJP said on X that the Congress keeps anti-national elements safe, and if “we are together, then the Congress is unsafe.”
“If the Congress is there, then terrorists, Pakistan, Rohingyas and Waqf are safe. If we are one, then the Congress is unsafe.”
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also took a jibe at Gandhi, saying the Congress leader would have found something valuable if it was brought from Matoshree, the Bandra residence of Shiv Sena (UBT) supremo Uddhav Thackeray. (PTI)
