‘Insult to Uttarakhand people’: BJP slams Akhilesh Yadav’s ‘ghuspaithiya’ remark

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav addresses a press conference at the party office, in Lucknow. (Source: PTI)

THE BJP hit out at Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday for his alleged statement that “biggest infiltrators in Uttar Pradesh are from Uttarakhand”.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami demanded an apology from Yadav, accusing him of insulting the people of Uttarakhand.

The issue snowballed after Yadav, while speaking to mediapersons in Lucknow on Friday, said: “…sabse bade ghuspaithiya UP me kaun hai? Uttarakhand ke… to ghuspaithiya define karna padega (Who is the biggest infiltrator in UP? …from Uttarakhand… Then we have to define infiltrator).”

The Samajwadi Party later clarified that Yadav was referring to an individual, but Dhami called Yadav’s remark an insult to the people of Uttarakhand and demanded an answer from the Congress, the SP’s ally from the INDIA bloc, if it agreed with Yadav’s remarks. The Congress is the main Opposition party in Uttarakhand.

Speaking to The Indian Express, SP spokesperson and Uttarakhand in-charge Rajendra Chaudhary said: “This is not an insult to Uttarakhand. Akhilesh Yadav ji has repeatedly said that we have an emotional relation with Uttarakhand. His remark was not associated with Uttarakhand. It was for an individual person. He respects the people of Uttarakhand.”

The Uttarakhand CM said it was not new for Akhilesh to insult Uttarakhand. “The people of Uttarakhand have not forgotten that time when, during the regime of his (Akhilesh’s) father Mulayam Singh Yadav, bullets were fired on agitators who were demanding a separate state. Those whose regime saw bullets being fired on Uttarakhand’s agitators are today calling the people of the state infiltrators. This is an insult not only to the identity, pride and struggles of this Devbhoomi, but also to the brave soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice for the country’s security,” Dhami said. He demanded that Yadav publicly apologise to all the people of Uttarakhand for his “insulting statement”.

“People of the state will give a befitting reply to SP’s ally Congress in 2027 (Assembly polls),” he said.

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Condemning Yadav’s remark, Uttarakhand BJP spokesperson Vinod Chamoli said: “It is clear now that the anti-Uttarakhand spark of Mulayam Singh Yadav is alive in Akhilesh, and he has the patronage of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.”

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Lalmani is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, and is based in New Delhi. He covers politics of the Hindi Heartland, tracking BJP, Samajwadi Party, BSP, RLD and other parties based in UP, Bihar and Uttarakhand. Covered the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, 2019 and 2024; Assembly polls of 2012, 2017 and 2022 in UP along with government affairs in UP and Uttarakhand. ... Read More