Rahul Gandhi mocks PM Modi's 'ek hain toh safe hain' slogan; BJP hits back

Lok Sabha leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Monday mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'ek hain toh safe hain' poll slogan and brought a metal safe to an event to demonstrate his version of the catchphrase, prompting the BJP to term the Congress leader a 'chhota popat'.

As the curtains came down on the high-octane campaign for assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, Modi's 'if we are united, we are safe' slogan was at the centre of an escalating political slugfest in which top industrialists were also targeted. Voting will be held in both states on Wednesday.

Gandhi brought the metal safe to his news conference in Mumbai, claiming a link between the slogan and the Dharavi redevelopment project awarded to the Adani Group. He then pulled out two posters from the safe, one featuring a photo of industrialist Gautam Adani and PM Modi, with the caption 'ek hain toh safe hain', and another showing a map of the project.

The Congress leader sought to draw a parallel between the word 'safe' in the slogan and the tendering process in the Dharavi redevelopment project, suggesting it was designed to protect Adani’s interests.

The 'ek hain toh safe hain' slogan primarily serves to help Adani acquire land worth Rs 1 lakh crore through the Dharavi project, he alleged. "Narendra Modi's slogan is: if we are united, we are safe. The question is: who is safe?” the Congress MP asked.

Gandhi again mocked the slogan at another news conference in Jharkhand's capital Ranchi by claiming that it translated into the 'unity' between PM Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and billionaires like Reliance Group chief Mukesh Ambani. "I will explain the real meaning of BJP's slogan, 'ek hain toh safe hain'. It is if Modi, Shah and Ambani are 'ek' (united), then they are 'safe'," he said.

Wrestler-turned-politician and Haryana Congress MLA Vinesh Phogat questioned the slogan in the context of women's safety and asked if the women seeking justice were not 'ladli (beloved)'.

Phogat, who was among the wrestlers who led an agitation seeking action against former BJP MP and ex-Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for alleged sexual harassment of female wrestlers, was addressing a news conference in Pune.

"I want to tell BJP leaders, you are saying 'ek hain toh safe hain', but (we) will be safe when this leader of yours stops exploiting women," the three-time Olympian said in an apparent reference to Singh.

After Gandhi's swipe at the poll slogan, the BJP hit back, calling him “chhota popat”, a term it claimed was coined by Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray to mock him.

“It was a very low-level press conference (in Mumbai). Bringing a safe and creating drama around it. Holding this kind of press conference by the so-called top leader of the so-called national party does not suit Rahul Gandhi and the Congress,” BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra said.

“Today I say this from this platform and in Rahul Gandhi’s language that 'chhota popat ne kiya hai Congress ko chaupat' (he has ruined the Congress). His name is Rahul Gandhi," the BJP MP said.

"I saw an interview of Bal Thackeray's, in which he referred to Rahul Gandhi as chhota popat. From today onwards, Rahul Gandhi’s name is going to be ‘chhota popat’. This name will now be there on every child’s lips in Maharashtra,” he said.

Patra said the word 'safe' in the slogan meant “safety, security and keeping people safe from ‘ghuspaithiya (infiltrators)’ but Gandhi took it as ‘tijori’ (a safe to keep money and valuables).

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also took a jibe at Gandhi, saying the Congress leader would have found something valuable if it was brought from Matoshree, the Bandra residence of Shiv Sena (UBT) supremo Uddhav Thackeray.