Ek hain toh safe hain: Devendra Fadnavis rubs it in, message to Rahul Gandhi

Following the Mahayuti alliance’s landslide victory in the Maharashtra assembly polls, Devendra Fadnavis, the state’s Deputy Chief Minister, delivered a pointed message to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday.
Fadnavis, crediting the BJP-led alliance’s success to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, posted on X: “Ek hai to safe hai (United we are safe). Modi hai to mumkin hai (Modi makes it possible).”
The Maharashtra BJP heavyweight’s tweet also contained a jab at Gandhi, who has mocked and disparaged the ‘ek hai to safe hai’ slogan given by PM Modi.
The slogan became a rallying cry for the BJP, and prominently featured during the Prime Minister’s extensive campaigning in Maharashtra. However, it also triggered a political firestorm, with the opposition accusing the saffron party of pitting communities against each other and fostering a sense of “us vs them”.
Leading the charge against ‘ek hai to safe hai’ was Rahul Gandhi. At a press conference ahead of the November 20 election, the Congress leader opened a safe and displayed posters accusing PM Modi of favouring industrialist Gautam Adani, particularly in the controversial Dharavi redevelopment project.
The Rae Bareli MP accused the BJP of using divisive rhetoric like ‘ek hai to safe hai’ and ‘batenge to katenge’ (division means annihilation) to divert attention from economic issues.
His comments drew a sharp response from BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, who called Gandhi “chota popat” (a young parrot) and accused him of wrecking his own party.
Patra said, “‘Chota popat ne kiya hai Congress chopat… The people who have been looting the ‘tijori’ (safe) for many years, now consider the meaning of ‘tijori’ as safe… the family has over the years looted the ‘tijori’ of India.”
Gandhi again invoked the ‘ek hai to safe hai’ slogan after Adani and his associates were indicted by US authorities in a bribery and fraud case. Adani stands accused of being part of a scheme to pay over $265 million in bribes to Indian officials for favourable terms on solar power contracts.
The Congress MP said he saw this as a vindication of his allegations, stating that as long as PM Modi and Adani are together, they are safe and untouchable in India.
While Gandhi doesn’t appear to be backing down from his criticism of the divisive slogan, Fadnavis’s post was a clear message: ‘Ek hai to safe hai’ is here to stay, because PM Modi is here to stay.