Courting yet another controversy, senior Tamil Nadu BJP leader H Raja on Saturday, 17 December, said that IAS and IPS officers who refer to the central government as “Union government” must be sent to “Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh” and made to stand in front of “Yogi Adityanath or a bulldozer”.
Speaking at a party event in Tenkasi, H Raja spoke in a distasteful manner about bureaucrats using the term “Ondriya Arasu” or “Ondriya Sarkar” (Union government) instead of “Mathiya Arasu” (central government) and added that those using the phrase were “anti-nationals”.
While talking about the ban imposed by the Centre on the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliate organisations, the senior BJP leader, referring to a serving IAS officer who allegedly used the term “Union government”, said: “A serving IAS officer, without any shame or dignity, is referring to the government as Union government. He is under central service. If we throw him out to Madhya Pradesh, will he go there and refer to the central government as Union government?”
“IAS and IPS officers who call the central government as union government will be kicked out like a ball to Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh and made to stand in front of Yogi Adityanath or a bulldozer… Those who speak like that are anti-nationals,” he added.
It may be remembered that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath — in the name of upholding rule of law and maintaining law-and-order — has been using bulldozers to demolish homes and properties of people who mostly belong to the minority community. The practise found takers in other BJP-ruled states as well.
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So, what’s the problem?
Pointing out that he was not only a chartered accountant but also a lawyer, Raja said: “Those who are using the term Union government do so citing that the Constitution says “India is a Union of States”. But Union of states doesn’t mean the present-day Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh or Karnataka. It means the Union of 565 erstwhile states.”
In addition to this, the senior leader demanded that leaders of the parties like the VCK and NTK, which allegedly extended their support to the PFI and promote Tamil Nationalism, should be jailed under the Goondas Act.
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Habitual offender
H Raja, it may be noted, has drawn flak on multiple occasions for his controversial remarks.
In October 2018, he offered an unconditional apology after the Madras High Court took note of a viral video in which the BJP leader is heard abusing the police and the judiciary.
\In the video, he was seen yelling at two policemen for stopping him from taking a Ganesh Chathurthi procession through a communally sensitive area, which had been banned by the court.
While Raja accused the police of being corrupt and “anti-Hindu”, he abused the judiciary using derogatory words.
