Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath lauded the bravery and persistence of Rajput ruler Maharana Pratap while simultaneously labelling Akbar as a foreigner.
Addressing an event held to celebrate the birth anniversary of Maharana Pratap on Thursday in Lucknow, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said the Maharana fought for preservation of culture, tradition and honour against the 16th century Mughal emperor not for days but for years.
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“Akbar had only one message, ‘Rana, accept me as you Badshah (king)’. But Rana said in a definitive voice ‘I cannot accept you as Badshah’,” said Adityanath as the audience broke into an applause.
“He is Turk…he will live there…In the guise of friendship he will play with our honour and our prestige… no self-respecting society can accept it. So we cannot accept a vidharmi (irreligious), a foreigner our Badshah,” he said quoting Pratap.
At the gathering, Adityanath said Pratap fought Akbar for several years in the Aravalli hills “and ultimately won back his forts” thus proving that only the Rajput ruler was great, not Akbar.
Urging the scheduled castes, tribes and backward communities to call themselves the descendants of Pratap, the UP CM reportedly said the strength of the tribes made Pratap great.
Adityanath said Pratap remained relevant even after 500 years of his death. A special edition of RSS magazine ‘Avadh Prahri’ was also released on the occasion.
