Another ‘war of words’ has broken out between Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak after the former visited a mosque on Parliament Street in Delhi on Tuesday. While Pathak called the SP chief a ‘namazwadi’, Yadav claimed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was using religion to create “differences between people”.
Pathak, while speaking to media persons on Wednesday here, accused Yadav of trampling on constitutional values by using a sacred space for political purposes. In May, the two had traded barbs over ‘DNA’.
“The Constitution is clear—religious places aren’t for political games,” said Pathak. “Akhilesh Yadav and his party have shown their true colours by playing the appeasement card with no regard for India’s values. He has always been a ‘namazwadi’,” added the UP Deputy CM.
Meanwhile, Yadav, who’s also the MP from Kannauj, hit back at the deputy CM. Speaking to reporters in Delhi on Wednesday, he said, “Faith brings people together; it’s the BJP that uses religion to tear us apart. The Samajwadi Party respects every community, every belief. This is just the BJP’s latest ploy to distract people from their failures.”
Meanwhile, the SP MP from Ghosi, Rajeev Rai, sarcastically asked if visiting a religious site now required the BJP’s ‘approval’. He pointed to viral videos of BJP leaders at similar venues, calling out what he dubbed their ‘hypocrisy in high definition’.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, the SP MP from Ghosi, Rajeev Rai, sarcastically asked if visiting a religious site now required the BJP’s ‘approval’. He pointed to viral videos of BJP leaders at similar venues, calling out what he dubbed their ‘hypocrisy in high definition’.
{{/usCountry}}SP MP from Rampur Mohibullah Nadvi is the imam of the mosque on Parliament Street, where Akhilesh and other SP MPs went to on Tuesday.
The fresh controversy is just the latest chapter in the long-running feud between Akhilesh Yadav and Brajesh Pathak. Past exchanges have seen Pathak accuse the SP of fostering casteism and shielding criminals, while Yadav has consistently branded the BJP as anti-minority and divisive.