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Akhilesh Yadav’s temple remarks spark off controversy, BJP hits back
Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya tweeted in Hindi: “All soaked up in so-called appeasement politics, Akhilesh Yadavji has forgotten the pain of Hindu Sanatan dharma. Therefore, his non-belief in Hindu dharma is no new thing.”
Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav’s fresh remarks in the wake of the ongoing Gyanvapi mosque issue have sparked off a controversy.
“In Hinduism, our Hinduism, place a stone anywhere, put a red flag there, under a peepul tree, it becomes a temple (Hamarey toh dharm mein, Hindu dharm mein toh yeh hai ki kahin bhi patthar rakh do, ek laal jhanda rakh do, peepul ke pedh ke neeche, mandir ban gaya),” Akhilesh Yadav said in Ayodhya on Wednesday evening while speaking to local newspersons.”
Akhilesh Yadav also commented on the Ram Janmabhoomi issue in Ayodhya: “People in Ayodhya know that there was a time when, in the dead of night, idols were placed. The BJP can do anything, the BJP can get anything done.”
The BJP hit back at Akhilesh Yadav over the two comments.
Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya tweeted in Hindi: “All soaked up in so-called appeasement politics, Akhilesh Yadavji has forgotten the pain of Hindu Sanatan dharma. Therefore, his non-belief in Hindu dharma is no new thing.”
UP BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said, “It seems that Akhilesh Yadav ji did not learn any lesson from the election results. His statements are an insult to Hindus.”
“Would he dare to make a statement like ‘make a mazaar anywhere, drape it with a sheet, and a religious place is ready’. He can’t even dare to say such a thing. He cannot dare to speak a word against Islam,” Tripathi said.
“This is the same Samajwadi Party under whose regime firing took place on the kar sevaks. These are things that hurt the faith of Hindus, it creates hatred in the society,” Tripathi said in an apparent reference to Akhilesh’s “idols kept in the dead of night” remark.
When asked about the Akhilesh’s comments, Samajwadi Party leader and spokesperson, Anurag Bhadauria said: “Dozens of temples were demolished, 300 houses were demolished in Varanasi (for Kashi Vishwanath corridor). The BJP demolishes temples. The SP respects the courts, the constitution. The BJP does politics over religion.”
Akhilesh had stopped-over in Ayodhya while returning to Lucknow from Siddharth Nagar. The party unit in Ayodhya had held a felicitation of him at a private resort on Ayodhya–Lucknow highway.
