Sambhal: Resuming campaigning after a 72-hour Election Commission ban, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday called a Samajwadi party candidate "Babur ki Aulad" or "Babur's child". The saffron party's star campaigner made the remark on a day he returned to campaigning for his party after the EC imposed a 72-hour ban on him for making a comment on communal lines.

Taking on the SP candidate from Sambhal, Shafiq-ur-Rehman Burq, the chief minister said: "What can be said about SP... It fielded a candidate in Sambhal who claims himself to be the descendant of Babar, hesitates in garlanding the statue of Baba Saheb and does not recite Vande Matram," he said.

ANI quoted Adityanath as saying that once the SP leader had told him in Parliament premises that he was the successor of Mughal emperor Babar. "Once I was in parliament, I asked the SP candidate, who was also an MP, as to who were his predecessors, he said he was the successor of Babur. I was surprised," Yogi Adityanath said in the poll rally.

Yogi asked the people whether they wanted to hand over the reins of the country to those who are anti-development, anti-youth, traitors, terrorists and opposed to the believers of Bajrang Bali (another name for Lord Hanuman).

Addressing an election meeting at Kaila Devi here, Adityanath said: "The BJP has got the maximum votes in the first two phases of polling on 16 seats and the Congress and the SP-BSP have been reduced to zero seats."

"I am coming to you after sadhana of Bajrang Bali for three days... I also had a darshan of Kaila Devi," the CM said, adding that he never seeks votes in the name of religion.

"Remember the Congress government when the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said that Muslims had the first right over the country's resources while Mayawati in a rally in Saharanpur asked Muslims to unite and vote for the BSP-SP alliance... I have never sought votes in the name of caste or religion," he said.

Adityanath also attacked Azam Khan over the latter's "underwear" jibe, saying his government constituted anti-Romeo squads for people like the SP leader. "Our government has constituted anti-Romeo squad for persons like Azam," he said addressing a gathering in Hardoi.

Adityanath said: "A 'jeev' (human being) of SP lives in Rampur... What kind of language he used for Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar... Today Mayawati ji is seeking votes for those who had disrespected Baba saheb... What kind of language he uses against mothers and daughters?"

Claiming that he took up development work in the state without discriminating on the basis of religion unlike the previous governments, Yogi said regimes who practised such discrimination are disrespecting democracy.

"Earlier governments used to discriminate... funds were given to graveyards and not to cremation grounds... electricity was supplied to Deva Sharif and not to Mahadeva ..this was discrimination," he said.