Yogi finds incongruity in calling Alexander 'Great' instead of Chandragupta

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath claimed that the founding emperor of Maurya, Chandragupta Maurya, defeated Alexander of Macedonia, and yet historians never described him as "great", The Indian Express reports.

He added that historians are silent on Chandragupta and Ashoka, but India will change once the countrymen learn the truth. He was addressing a "Samajik Pratinidhi Sammelan" organised by BJP's OBC Morcha.

According to historians, Alexander died in 323 BC, a few years after his campaign to India. But there are debates among some of them over the exact date of Changdragupta's ascent to power though generally believed to have been after Alexander's death.

Adityanath also attacked the Samajwadi Party (SP), saying that people bringing up Partition were supporting the Taliban. Many are supporting them now, he said. Supporting the Taliban means supporting anti-humanity forces, insulting women and children and supporting the power that works against Lord Buddha's message of 'Maitri (friendship).

He claimed that his Opposition was insulting Sardar Patel by supporting Jinnah since they lacked other issues to raise. When Patel was India's hero, Jinnah would always be a villain, he said. Yogi asked the crowd he was addressing if they would support those who glorify Jinnah.

On Thursday, SP ally Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) leader Om Prakash Rajbhar had blamed RSS for Partition and said that India would have remained united had Mohammad Ali Jinnah been made the country's first prime minister.

Also, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav had equated Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, with Mahatma Gandhi, Vallabhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru last month.