Ajit Pawar on Yogi Slogan: A day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reiterated his slogan "Batenge toh kaatenge" at an election rally in Maharashtra, BJP ally and NCP chief Ajit Pawar on Thursday said people of the state don't like such comments. Deputy Chief Minister Pawar said the people of Maharashtra have always tried to maintain communal harmony.

The people of Maharashtra do not like this.

When asked about Adityanath's remarks, Ajit Pawar told reporters, "Maharashtra belongs to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj, and Mahatma Phule. You should not compare Maharashtra with other states, people of Maharashtra do not like it." He said that Shivaji Maharaj's teaching was to take along all sections of society. The NCP chief further said, "When people from other states come here, they speak keeping their people in mind, but Maharashtra has never accepted it and this has been the history of all elections here."

Adityanath had used his famous slogan while speaking at a campaign rally in Washim in eastern Maharashtra for the November 20 assembly elections. "I am taking inspiration from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and appealing to you not to be divided, because whenever we are divided, we are destroyed," he had said.

Campaigned for Nawab Malik and Sana

Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar on Thursday campaigned for his party candidates Nawab Malik and his daughter Sana, who are contesting the Maharashtra Assembly elections on November 20. NCP's ruling ally BJP has opposed Nawab Malik's candidature over his links with gangster Dawood Ibrahim. Former state minority affairs minister and Anushaktinagar MLA Nawab Malik is the NCP candidate from Mankhurd-Shivajinagar assembly constituency, while Sana is the NCP candidate from Anushaktinagar.

Ajit Pawar along with Nawab Malik and Sana rode in an open jeep at a rally in Mumbai and urged people to vote for the Malik father-daughter duo. Nawab Malik, who was arrested in February 2022 in a money laundering case, was released on bail in August 2023.