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BJP star campaigner Yogi Adityanath's "Batenge toh katenge" slogan, at the forefront of the party campaign in Maharashtra, is not only making its allies squirm, it is also causing deep discomfort among a section of BJP leaders, which has been voiced by Pankaja Munde and Ashok Chavan. Among allies, Ajit Pawar, the leader of Nationalist Congress Party, has already shared his misgivings, saying while such slogans may work in the north, it is not appropriate for Maharashtra, the "land of saints and followers of Shiva".
The "Batenge toh katenge (Division is destruction)" slogan, which the Opposition alleged has communal overtones, has already been tweaked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Ek hai toh safe hai," PM Modi had said earlier this month, repackaging its message of unity.
But it did not forestall a gusher of disapproval from party leaders and allies.
Pankaja Munde, daughter of late BJP stalwart Gopinath Munde, was the first to speak up.
"Frankly, my politics is different. I won't support it just because I belong to the same party. My belief is that we should work on development alone. A leader's job is to make every living person on this land as our own. Therefore, we need not bring any such topic to Maharashtra," she said yesterday.
Today, Ashok Chavan, who switched from the Congress to the BJP in February in the run-up to the Lok Sabha election, made his stance clear.
"There is no relevance of this (slogan). Slogans are given at election time. This particular slogan is not in good taste and I don't think people will appreciate it. Personally speaking, I am not in favour of such slogans," he told news agency Press Trust of India.
Then it was the turn of Ajit Pawar, who did not mince words either. "I am not supporting it. I have said this several times. It will not work in Maharashtra. This may work in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, or some other places," said the nephew of Sharad Pawar, whose undivided party enjoyed considerable support among the Muslims.
The Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena, apparently, is also wary of the slogan's potential to consolidate the minority vote in favour of the Opposition and diffuse the message of development and welfare on which its government has been working hard. Any leader of his party, though, is yet to go on record on the matter.
Today, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis made an attempt to explain the issue, saying Pankaja Munde and Ashok Chavan have failed to grasp the "core meaning" of the slogan, which is actually a message of unity.
"Batenge to katenge is a counter-narrative to the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi's divisive campaign, and the core message of the slogan is that "everyone has to stick together," Mr Fadnavis said during an interaction with the media.
The Opposition MVA, meanwhile, is hugely enjoying the ruling alliance's discomfiture.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has asked the BJP to choose between Yogi Adityanath's "divisive" slogan and PM Modi's call for unity.
"While Yogi says, 'Batenge toh katenge,' Modi introduces the conflicting slogan, 'Ek hain toh safe hain (If we're united, we're safe).' You decide between yourselves whose slogan should be followed-Yogiji's or Modi's?"
NCP's Supriya Sule said the party that broke parties has itself got divided. "They are in two minds in the BJP. On one side Devabhau says one thing and on the other side ally Pankaja Munde says something else... We will have to ask Devabhau how did this become 50-50?" she said.
Shaina NC, who is contesting on a Shiv Sena ticket, accused the MVA of tweaking statements. "MVA is spreading a false narrative... MVA is deliberately cutting some statements of our leaders and spreading a false narrative. MVA does not know what the context is. These people are talking dirty".
BJP's Kirit Somaiya said, "Yogi-ji has said that if we are divided, we will be divided. Modi ji is saying that if we are united, we are safe. We are saying vote jihad for a reason. We are just warning people against vote jihad. All BJP leaders are saying the same thing. Some leaders' statements have gone wrong, but everyone's fight is the same".