'What Tejashwi Yadav said is something that people say daily': RJD's Manoj Jha on 'Chinese replica of Yogi Adityanath' remark

NEW DELHI: RJD MP Manoj Jha on Sunday defended his party leader Tejashwi Yadav's "Chinese replica of Yogi Adityanath" remark for Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Jha said that the remark was against the dog-whistle politics of the BJP.

"What Tejashwi Yadav said is something that people say daily. When we say that something is "Chinese maal", it means it is not durable," Jha told ANI

"He said it in the context of dog-whistle politics, the politics of polarisation. As far as the dignity of words is concerned, where do you place 'bhains', 'mangalsutra' and 'mujra'?" he added.

Earlier, hitting out at Himanta Biswa Sarma over the decision to end the 2-hour break for Jumma prayers in the Assam assembly, Tejashwi had Accused the CM of seeking "cheap popularity" to stay in the news.

"Assam Chief Minister (Himanta Biswa Sarma) wants cheap popularity and wants to remain in the news... (UP CM) Yogi Adityanath is using bulldozers, and he (Assam CM) is stopping namaz, the country belongs to everyone, there should be peace, but these people are only spreading hatred," Tejashwi Yadav told ANI.

The former Bihar deputy CM also attacked CM Himanta on Friday, and called him "Chinese version of Yogi" in a veiled reference to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath."The chief minister of Assam deliberately keeps doing acts to harass Muslims, in an attempt to gain cheap popularity and become the "Chinese version of Yogi".

"The people of BJP have made Muslim brothers a soft target to spread hatred, attract the attention of Modi-Shah and polarize the society," Yadav stated.

"People of all religions, except RSS, have a hand in the independence of the country. Our Muslim brothers have made sacrifices in getting the country freedom and as long as we are here, no one can harm them," he added.

Responding to Yadav's statement against him, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said "Our work will not stop based on the comments of people. Our work is to keep going forward."

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