Akhilesh Yadav, former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, stirred controversy on Wednesday by asking whether any soldier of the Indian Army, who hailed from Gujarat, has been martyred.
"Jawans from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, South India have been martyred, why not from Gujarat?" Yadav asked.
However, Yadav's remark did not go down well with Twitterati who lashed out at him for insulting soldiers. Soon, the hashtag #AkhileshInsultsMartyrs began trending on Twitter.
Here are some reactions from Twitter users:
#AkhileshInsultsMartyrs HE IS WORSTE POLITICIANS ,LIKE LALU AND MAMTA, PHIR BHI WO SECULAR AUR INTELLECTUAL HAI.INDIAN NO NEED THESE SKLR.
— yashwardhan gupta (@GYashwardhan) May 10, 2017
#AkhileshInsultsMartyrs m saying this straight anyone & everyone who live on soil of india and insult our Martyrs should b put behind d bar — Anupama mathur (@anupamamathur1) May 10, 2017
#AkhileshInsultsMartyrs कुत्तों की बिरादरी का श्रेष्ठ कमीना है जिसमें कमीनापन ठूंस ठूंस के भरा पड़ा है
— Dr.Manoj jain (@HndJain) May 10, 2017
@ANINewsUP @ANI_news @yadavakhilesh Mr. Akhilesh Yadav, Jawan does not belong to "Pradesh" ! Jawan belongs to India! Now I am sure We did right in elections ! — SAtish (@satishscorpion) May 10, 2017
was angry aftr readng @yadavakhilesh 's statemnt, thn i realized ki जो अपने बाप का नहि हुआ वो भारत माँ का क्या होगा #AkhileshInsultsMartyrs
— Er. Avinish tiwari (@avinish_tiwari) May 10, 2017
लो जी बस यही कमी रह गयी थी, पहले तो धर्म में भेदभाव करते थे, अब शहीद भी राज्यों के होंगे देश के नहीं। Shame #AkhileshInsultsMartyrs — Anu dimri (@dimri_pri) May 10, 2017
#AkhileshInsultsMartyrs indian soldiers never fight any cast , region or state. these are fight for TIRANGA
— Mahipal Singh (@mahipalsingh11) May 10, 2017
#AkhileshInsultsMartyrs अफसोस मेरे देश ने 5 साल केलिए एक बड़ी स्टेट ऐसे व्यक्ति को सोंंप दी जो देश के लिए शहीद होने का मतलव भी नहीं समझता! — राजेन्द्र सिंह (@rsrsdsingh691) May 10, 2017
Stop talking about states, tell me how many people join Indian Army from your family @yadavakhilesh? #AkhileshInsultsMartyrs
— Rajeev Rai (@Rajeev_Bharat) May 10, 2017
A soldier is a soldier - how does it matter which state he comes from. Sad 2 c politics over martyrs #AkhileshInsultsMartyrs @yadavakhilesh — Manisha Singh (@Mini2411Singh) May 10, 2017