Lucknow, April 3: Amid the ongoing row over Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's "Modi Ki Sena" reference for the Indian Army, BJP veteran and Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has purportedly followed the suit, by repeating the controversial remark while addressing an election rally in Rampur on Wednesday.

A video going viral shows Naqvi repeating the comment while campaigning for party candidate Jayaprada. In his address to the BJP cadres and supporters, the Minority Affairs Minister said the Opposition has been seeking evidence of how "Modi Ji Ki Sena" entered into Pakistan and eliminated scores of terrorists. EC Issues Notice to CM Yogi, Seeks Reply by April 5.

Watch Video Showing Naqvi Repeating the "Modi Ki Sena" Remark:

Naqvi's speech was reported hours before the Election Commission issued a notice to Yogi Adityanath, asking him to furnish a reply by April 5 explaining the use of "Modi Ji Ki Sena" reference by him. The Opposition has called it a violation of the Model Code of Conduct and has demanded the polling body to take strict action.

"Congress ke log aatankvadiyon ko biryani khilate the aur Modi ji ki sena aatankvadiyon ko goli aur gola deti hai (Congress fed terrorists biryani while Modi’s army feeds them bullets and bombs)," Yogi had said, while addressing a rally in Ghaziabad last week.

The Congress has called his remarks an insult to the Indian Army. "They are India’s armed forces, not the private army of a Prachaar Mantri. Adityanath must apologise," said Congress' spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 04, 2019 12:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).