PM Modi hits out at UP grand alliance with 'Sarab' jibe, Oppn comes up with 'Sharab' rejoinder

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday coined an antonym ‘sarab’ to take a dig at the opposition alliance of Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in Uttar Pradesh.

"Sapa (Samajwadi Party) ka 'sa', RLD ka 'Raa' aur Baspa (BSP) ka 'ba', matlab 'sharab'. For UP's good health and for India's future, should you not stay away from sarab? Sapa, RLD, Baspa, ye 'sarab' aapko barbaad kar degi (this sarab destroy you)," the Prime Minister said at an election rally in Meerut.

The opposition also quickly retorted to the PM’s blistering attack with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav saying that PM Modi was confused about the meaning of the words ‘sarab’ and ‘sharab’ because of the teleprompter.

"Tele prompters exposed how those who promote hate don't know difference between 'sarab' and 'sharab'; 'Sarab' also means mirage which the BJP has been showing for the last five years," said Akhilesh Yadav.

आज टेली-प्रॉम्प्टर ने यह पोल खोल दी कि सराब और शराब का अंतर वह लोग नहीं जानते जो नफ़रत के नशे को बढ़ावा देते हैं

सराब को मृगतृष्णा भी कहते हैं और यह वह धुंधला सा सपना है जो भाजपा 5 साल से दिखा रही है लेकिन जो कभी हासिल नहीं होता। अब जब नया चुनाव आ गया तो वह नया सराब दिखा रहे हैं

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) March 28, 2019

Meanwhile, the Congress addressed a press conference, slamming the comments by the prime minister.

“Does this kind of talk befit a Prime Minister? You are calling three political parties sharab? Is this the way a PM talks? Can the people accept this,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.

Take back your words and apologise to 130 crore people, or the nation and Uttar Pradesh will never forgive you, Surjewala added.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) also came up with its own version of ‘sharab’ to hit back at the BJP.

“(PM Modi) Did not learn the difference between ‘s’ and ‘sh’. Let us teach you – Shah’s ‘s’, Rajnath’s ‘r’ and BJP’s ‘b’! This makes Gujarati sharab which is openly sold in alcohol ban,” the RJD said in a tweet in Hindi.