'Inko dekh leejiye': Akhilesh deploys Ayodhya region MP to taunt BJP during Vande Mataram discussion

SAmajwadi company chief Akhilesh Yadav on mon reacted with mirth — and some ready litigate, literally on his feet — when the ruling BJP-led NDA's members sought-after(a) to interject in his speech during the discussion on national song Vande Mataram.He held the hand of his party's MP Awadhesh Prasad, who was seated right next to him, made him stand up briefly and said, “Inko dekh leejiye. Baith jaaiye. (Take a look at him. Now sit down).” The message was not lost on anyone: Awadhesh Prasad is the MP who defeated the BJP in Faizabad, the LS seat encompassing the holy city of Ayodhya that's been central to BJP's Hindutva politics.Live updates | Parliament winter session 2025“Our victory showed that communal politics will not work. Our people from UP ended communal politics where they (BJP) started it,” Akhilesh said.Also read | 'Nehru thought it would irritate Muslims': PM Modi during Vande Mataram debateThe district of Faizabad was recently renamed to Ayodhya by UP's BJP government led by Yogi Adityanath, though the LS seat continues to carry the name Faizabad. Just days ago, PM Narendra Modi was at Ayodhya's Ram Mandir for a flag-hoisting ceremony. The temple has been built after the Supreme Court's ruling in 2019 on the land parcel where the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992.Also read | From Nehru to Savarkar to Bengal: PM Modi's top quotes in Vande Mataram debateIn the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the INDIA bloc — meaning essentially the SP and Congress in case of UP — won most of the 80 LS seats in UP. That was seen as a major contributor to the BJP's falling short of the majority mark in the Lok Sabha on its own.Since then, of all the 37 Samajwadi Party MPs, Akhilesh has chosen to put special emphasis on party veteran Awadhesh Prasad. He is mostly seated right next to him on the Opposition benches, occupying one of the two front-row seats allocated to the party in the Lok Sabha.Awadhesh Prasad belongs to the Pasi community of Dalits, hence the importance given to him is also a part of the SP's ‘PDA’ pitch, referring to picchde (backward classes), Dalit (Scheduled Castes), and alpasankhyak (minorities, such as Muslims).Observers note that by bringing Awadhesh Prasad forward, Akhilesh Yadav has been attempting to dent the BJP's Hindutva narrative.Ayodhya and the Ram Mandir have been at the top of the BJP's agenda since at least the mid-1980s, and it is often seen as the political plank that fuelled its rise.What Akhilesh said during Vande Mataram discussionYadav began his speech on Monday by remembering Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, "who gave the nation a song that awakened millions". He accused the BJP of "trying to own everything". He cited Rabindranath Tagore's rendition of the song during the Kolkata Congress session, “which helped it reach ordinary people and cement its place in the independence movement”.Targeting the BJP directly, Yadav said the BJP, when being formed in its current avatar in 1980, had decided on a socialist and secular path. "Tell me today, how secular are you?" he said, pointing towards the ruling party benches.He said Vande Mataram is “not merely meant to be sung, but to be lived”. "Look at the last few decades and see how much they (BJP) have actually lived by it," he said. Yadav also alleged that some individuals who now speak loudly about nationalism had, during the freedom struggle, acted as informants for the British. "Those who didn't participate in the freedom movement, what would they know about celebrating Vande Mataram?" Yadav remarked.