Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, targeting his main rival Akhilesh Yadav ahead of the Uttar Pradesh election, posted a tweet on Friday morning calling the Samajwadi Party “worshippers of Jinnah” and supporters of Pakistan.

“They are worshippers of Jinnah, we are worshippers of Sardar Patel. Pakistan is dear to them, we sacrifice our life for Maa Bharati (Mother India),” the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said in a tweet, referring to Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

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Yogi Adityanath, who is seeking a second straight term in the election, has made deeply polarising comments like this in the run-up to an election that he and the BJP are determined to win.

Earlier, Yogi Adityanath began with “80 versus 20” comment that was seen to depict the ratio of Hindu voters to Muslims. He said that 80 percent of voters were with the BJP.

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“Earlier Haj Houses used to be constructed in Ghaziabad, our government has constructed the Kailash Manasarovar Bhawan,” Yogi Adityanath told a gathering.

Ghaziabad in western Uttar Pradesh is among the seats that will vote in the first round of voting in the state on February 10. The state will vote in seven phases.

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In western UP, the BJP has faced massive anger over the controversial farm laws, which were withdrawn by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after an 11-month protest and months ahead of elections in key states including UP and Punjab.

The BJP and Yogi Adityanath’s divisive comments are seen to be an effort at taking the attention away from the farmer protests. Last year, the saffron-wearing Chief Minister, who is the head priest at the Gorakhnath Mutt in eastern UP, referred to Akhilesh Yadav’s father Mulayam Singh Yadav as “abbajaan” (Urdu for father).

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In the past few days, Yogi Adityanath’s Twitter timeline has been flooded with communally divisive posts.

There are references to ‘danga’ or riots, “Abbajaan, mafia” and “palayan” or ” migration”.

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The Samajwadi Party has 13 Muslim candidates in the first phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections 2022.