India today reacted sharply to The New York Times’ editorial criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s choice of Adityanath Yogi as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, and said the paper’s wisdom to write such a piece was “questionable”.
“All editorials or opinions are subjective. This case is particularly so. The wisdom in doubting the verdicts of genuine democratic exercises, at home or abroad, is questionable,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay.
The NYT in the highly critical editorial, titled ‘Modi’s Perilous Embrace of Hindu Extremists’, said since he was elected in 2014, Mr. Modi has played a “cagey game, appeasing his party’s hard-line Hindu base while promoting secular goals of development and economic growth”.
The move by Prime Minister Modi’s party to name “firebrand Hindu cleric” Adityanath as Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister is a “shocking rebuke” to religious minorities, the editorial said.
