Mayawati flays SP Maurya’s remarks on Badrinath temple

BSP chief Mayawati criticized Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya for his statement on the demolition of Buddhist monasteries, accusing him of creating religious controversy for political gain ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday hit out at Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya over his statement on demolition of Buddhist monasteries and accused him of trying to drive a wedge between the communities ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati. (HT file)

In a series of tweets in Hindi, she said, “The statement of Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya that many temples, including Badrinath, were built by demolishing Buddhist monasteries and why modern survey should be done not only of Gyanvapi Masjid but also of other major temples is a purely political statement giving rise to new controversies.”

“Maurya was a minister in the BJP government for a long time. Why did he not put such pressure on his party and the government in this regard? And now creating such a religious controversy at the time of elections. Buddhist and Muslim communities are not going to be misled by them,” the BSP chief said.

Earlier, Maurya had claimed that the Badrinath temple in Uttarakhand was a Buddhist religious place till the eighth century. The temple was built after destroying the Buddhist shrine. A survey should be carried out to find out what existed there before the Hindu temple, he had said.