On Yogi's ‘population’ remark, Mayawati says BJP deviating from real issues
BSP chief Mayawati on Wednesday said population control is a “long-term policy” that requires more awareness than the law.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Wednesday joined Opposition leaders in attacking Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath over his recent “population imbalance” remark. The former chief minister hit out at Yogi, saying population control is a long-term matter and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is using the issue to scare people while deviating from real issues like inflation, poverty and unemployment.
Taking to Twitter, Mayawati asked if at a time when Indian families are limiting all their needs, “it is wise of (the) BJP to confuse people with long-term issues like population control”.
“Population control is a long-term policy issue, which needs more awareness than the law, but instead of paying due attention to the real priority of the country, the BJP governments are choosing devious and controversial issues… In such a situation, how can the interests of the public and the country be taken care of? People are sad and restless,” her tweet, loosely translated from Hindi, added.
The row began on Monday when Adityanath said it was important to ensure that efforts to control the population do not lead to an “imbalance” between religions as this could cause “anarchy” and “chaos”.
“It should not happen that the percentage of population growth of any one class is more while we work on population control with awareness of the mool nivasi (native residents). People should be made conscious to control the population through efforts of stabilisation," the UP CM added.
All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi hit back at Adityanath, saying Muslims used the most number of contraceptives and the total fertility rate (TFR) that was 2.6 per cent in 2016, had now falled to 2.3 per cent.
Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav also made a veiled attack on the UP CM, saying that anarchy is not caused by population but due to the destruction of democratic values.
Several BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have often talked about controlling the population curve of India. In a recently released report by the United Nations (UN), it has been predicted that India will replace China as the world's most populous nation in 2023, and the disparity will remain till 2100.
