In a program in Agra, Yogi Adityanath had tried to warn people with a slogan: “If you divide, you will divide”, giving the example of the situation in Bangladesh.
And Prime Minister Narendra Modi also presented the same in Maharashtra in his own way – “If we divide, those who divide will organize meetings” – and a similar sentiment was felt in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s speech.
Now the Sangh explains this slogan as if it were the last remaining option. Regardless of how one understands the political motive behind this slogan, it must be acknowledged that it is gaining popularity among the people and opposition has also started to be expressed from the leaders of anti-BJP political parties.
Emphasis on religious unity or ethnic unity
From what we have seen, Yogi Adityanath has not said anything new. The importance of unity has been explained for years. Yogi Adityanath has presented the same in his own style, and the occasion is such that it has become the new political slogan.
The special thing is that you cannot oppose this slogan like Jai Shri Ram has done, like Mamata Banerjee has been doing. This is not a slogan for yogis to go straight to the point, like: “…it will calm the heat.”
That is why this slogan is on people’s lips and posters have also been put up in Agra. Yogi Adityanath’s photograph is also on the poster put up in Agra, and this slogan is also written, and this poster has been put up to wish a happy Diwali to the people of the area.
Please note that when people start writing ‘Bantenge to Katenge’ on their water bottles, one must assume that this slogan can also be found on the windows of vehicles plying on the roads.
Now the question is whether this slogan of Yogi Adityanath has a message of religious unity or caste unity. It is definitely being defined in different ways, but it fits in all cases.
Endorsing Yogi Adityanath’s slogan, Sarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh says that if Hindu society does not remain united then in today’s parlance it can be “Bantenge to Katenge”.
The Sangh has been very concerned about the division of Hindu society into castes, and Dattatreya Hosabale explains the same, if we differentiate between advanced and backward in society, caste and language, then we will be isolated…i.e. why unity is necessary… Unity of Hindu society is for public welfare… Powers are working to break Hindus… Warning is necessary.
Recently, in Uttar Pradesh, caste politics has become predominant in relation to police encounters. From the encounter with the robbery accused in Sultanpur to the deaths in police custody, in such a situation, the Sangh and the BJP are trying hard to cash in on Yogi Adityanath’s slogan in the elections.
Yogi action, slogan and brand
1. Talks about unity have been going on for a long time. Much of this advice has been given in moral education. One can read many such stories: Yogi Adityanath has done the same by word of mouth by speaking in a typical desi style.
And this statement of Yogi is taken in the same way as it was heard from Aamir Khan’s mouth: “Thanda means Coca Cola.” For example, in UP and Bihar, it is written on the back of trucks plying at high speed on the roads: ‘Satla ta gayala beta’. Pay a little attention, the sound is the same in all of them.
2. Anyway, Yogi Adityanath is a brand in Hindutva politics. After Brand Modi, if there is another brand with that temperament it is Brand Yogi, and in ‘Bantenge to Katenge’ the image of a bulldozer also emerges.
3. Just as the chief ministers of the BJP governments adopted Yogi’s bulldozer, Banten to Katenge is also being adopted in almost the same way, and the special thing is that this sentiment has started appearing in Modi’s speeches to Bhagwat as well.
