Daughter of Samajwadi Party MLC Swami Prasad Maurya and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sanghamitra Maurya on Thursday reacted to her father's controversial remark on Ramcharitmanas and said that it should be discussed and not objected to.
"See, I think that the comment is not a matter of controversy or debate but a matter of discussion. Whosoever has reverence for Lord Rama and whosoever has read Ramcharitmanas, all of them have quoted that line from time to time. Today my father did the same," Sanghamitra Maurya told ANI.
Earlier this month, the Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya sparked a major controversy after he demanded the deletion of "insulting comments and sarcasm" targeted at particular castes and sects in Ramcharitmanas, a poem based on the epic Ramayana.
Speaking to ANI, the SP leader said, "I don't have any issue with Ramcharitramanas but parts of it have insulting comments and sarcasm directed at particular castes and sects. Those should be removed."
Maurya's remarks gave fresh ammunition to the BJP with its own party chief Akhilesh Yadav distancing himself from the controversial remarks.
Apart from Akhilesh Yadav, several MLAs of the party are also keeping themselves away from the statement of Maurya.
However, Sanghamitra said that the reason behind the backlash against his father is that he is in the opposition.
"He is in the opposition, that's why he is being highlighted so much, but many leaders have also quoted those lines before him. I think there should be a discussion about what is there in that line which is causing controversy again and again," she reiterated.
( With inputs from ANI )
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