Union minister Pankaj Chaudhary on Tuesday condemned Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav for challenging Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to recite a quadruplet from Ramcharitmanas in the UP Assembly.
Addressing the mediapersons on Monday, the SP chief also dared the UP CM to declare if the former (Akhilesh Yadav) belongs to the 'Shudra' community.
"No one is against Ramcharitmanas. Since CM Adityanath is a yogi and comes from a religious background, I request him to read that quadruplet in the Assembly and tell me if I belong to Shudra community. Can he do that?" Akhilesh Yadav said while talking to mediapersons on Monday.
Union Minister Pankaj Chaudhary, while talking to ANI, said that any comments on the 'Ramcharitmanas' is an attempt to gain popularity through "cheap" means.
Amid the ongoing controversy on the holy book of Hindu culture, Pankaj Chaudhary alleged that Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav 'indirectly supports' Swami Prasad Maurya and his ideology.
"Commenting on Ramcharitmanas is to gain cheap popularity. As Swami Prasad Maurya gives statements as per the ideology of the party he is in, earlier also he used to give controversial statements when he was in Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). In that way, Akhilesh Yadav somehow opposed him previously but now he has been supporting him in some way," Chaudhary said.
Having said the above, Chaudhary also said that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav should consider his stand as the ongoing controversy on Ramcharitmanas has been insulting the entire Hindu society.
"If one reads the Ramcharitmanas properly, they would realise that the allegations made for Dalit abuse are fake as it is written in the holy book how Shabri offered berries to Lord Rama after tasting them," Chaudhary said accusing the Samajwadi Party for having hatred for the Dalits in their subconscious.
"No matter what they say on political battlefields, their ideology shows hatred towards them [Dalits] and this is very much evident from his statements," he added.
Meanwhile, the ruckus has continuously been increasing as Yadav also appointed Swami Prasad Maurya as the SP General Secretary yesterday.
Earlier this month, the SP leader had 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 former BJP leader had said, "I don't have any issue with Ramcharitmanas but parts of it have insulting comments and sarcasm directed at particular castes and sects. Those should be removed."
Maurya further claimed that in the Ramcharitmanas, which was composed by Tulsidas, there are words hurting the sentiments of the Dalit community.
"The government should take effective action and show sensitivity. It should see that the sentiments of any community are not hurt," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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