‘Insult to Sanatan Dharma’: BJP targets Akhilesh for comparing him to ‘seer mafia’, calls it ‘hidden agenda of INDIA Bloc’

Last updated: Sep 13, 2024, 09:52 AM IST

Former UP CM and SP MP Akhilesh Yadav. (Image: PTI)

SP leader Akhilesh Yadav’s remark that ‘there is no difference between Hindu seers and mafiosi’ led to a political storm. BJP leaders called it an ‘insult to Sanatan.’

Party leader Samajwadi’s brazen comparison of party leader Akhilesh Yadav with ‘mathadheesh and mafia’ on Friday triggered a political storm with BJP leaders terming it an insult to Sanatan Dharma.

Reacting to Yadav’s remark that there is ‘no difference between Hindu seers and mafias’, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawala said it is a hidden agenda of the INDIA bloc to insult Sanatan Dharma for vote bank politics.

“After DMK misused Sanatan, after Congress called Hindus violent, Samajwadi Party which killed Ram Bhakts is now saying Mathadish are like mafia! Can they say this about other faiths? INDI Alliance has only one agenda: ‘Hindu Astha Ko Do Gaali, Votebank ki Milegi Taali.”

What did Akhilesh Yadav say about seers?

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow on Mangesh Yadav’s recent encounter in Sultanpur, Yadav said, “There is no one who does not know that under the Bharatiya Janata Party government, fake encounters and murders are taking place. The BJP has done so many fake encounters that it has made Uttar Pradesh the capital of fake encounters…Mathdeeshon from the mafia is a real mafia (There is no difference between Hindu seers and mafiosi).”

“I think it’s okay है।”– माननीय राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष श्री अखिलेश I am a wanderer photo.twitter.com/3PmC7QqWv0

— Samajwadi Party (@samajwadiparty) September 12, 2024

Stepping up the offensive against the main opposition party of Uttar Pradesh, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said the Samajwadi Party is working to protect the mafia in the state. “They don’t know the difference between monasteries, temples and mosques. When the Samajwadi Party comes to power, it will work to protect the mafia. These people are the ones who read prayers at the mausoleum of the mafia.”

State Minister Sanjay Nishad also targeted Yadav’s use of weapons and defended the UP government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, saying Akhilesh Nishad was killed in an encounter during the Samajwadi Party rule.

“Those who visit the graves of mafia members insult Sanatan by making such statements. It is not appropriate to politicise the police and judiciary. During the Samajwadi Party government, the police also killed Akhilesh Nishad,” the UP minister said.

Seers Flay Akhilesh

Yadav’s remark drew criticism from the seers who condemned the blatant comparison of their community with gangsters. Mahant Durga Das of Shri Panchayati Akhara Udasin Nirvana called Akhilesh’s statement “highly objectionable”.

“All saints are heads of the monastery; everyone has a chair. A head of the monastery is compared to God in Sanatan Dharma. To connect the head of the monastery with the mafia is a sign of superficiality,” he said.

Mahant Yogesh Puri Maharaj of the Shri Mankameshwar Temple in Agra recalled the bullets fired at Karsevaks after the Ram Rath Yatra in 1990.

“If Akhilesh says that there is no difference between the head of the monastery and the mafia, he should first look at himself. What has he done? Whose father fired bullets at the karsevaks? Whose ministers are saying all sorts of things about Ram? Anyone can understand what his intentions are with the monastery. May God grant him wisdom.”