Ensured it won't happen again, says Akhilesh after SP's objectionable comment on deputy CM

Lucknow: After an alleged objectionable post targeting Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak was posted on Samajwadi Party's official X handle, party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said he has taken assurance from his people that this will not happen again.

He also said he hoped that Pathak would stop making the kind of statements that triggered such a post.

In an X post in Hindi late on Saturday night, Akhilesh said, "Taking cognizance of the comment on UP Deputy Chief Minister, we at the party level have asked explanation from those who lost their temper after being hurt by your (Pathak's) extremely indecent comment on the 'DNA of socialists'. We have taken assurance from them that this will not happen again, but we hope that the kind of statements you make continuously will also stop." Akhilesh said those statement's may seem appropriate at Pathak's personal level, but they cannot be justified in any way "on the scale of dignity and decency." "As a health minister, it is expected that you understand that talking dirty about someone's DNA is actually accusing not a person, but his lineage and origin going back to ages. As we are Yaduvanshis related to Lord Krishna, your attack on our DNA hurts us religiously," Akhilesh's post read.

Akhilesh requested Pathak not to forget his morality while doing politics.

"We know that your religious personality is not such that you would make malicious comments against Lord Krishna, but a normal innocent person can take your comment otherwise. Hence, you are requested not to forget your morality while doing politics and hurt sensitive religious sentiments knowingly or unknowingly," Yadav said.

The post asked Pathak to contemplate on the comment.

"I hope you apologise to the good person inside you. If you sit alone and objectively observe your behaviour, thoughts and personality of the past years, you will find that neither were there such a deviation in your thoughts before, nor were your political aspirations such that you forget your ideals and lose your verbal balance," the post read.

Akhilesh further asked Pathak to "protect and maintain the purity of politics" and turn his "conscience towards the right direction by maintaining appropriate distance from negative politics." An FIR was registered in Lucknow on Saturday following an alleged objectionable comment against Pathak was posted on Samajwadi Party's X handle. The complaint was lodged by Anand Dwivedi, president of BJP's Lucknow Mahanagar (city) unit.

Dwivedi alleged that the X post contained "extremely objectionable things against the deceased mother of the deputy chief minister, which shows Samajwadi Party's anti-women mentality." The case was registered under Sections 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of public peace), 353 (public mischief by spreading false information or rumours), 356 (defamation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and under the IT Act.

Reacting to the post, Pathak questioned Samajwadi Party's conduct in an X post. "Akhilesh ji, is this the language of your party? This is the official handle of your party! Is this the choice of words for someone's late parents?" Pathak also shared a screenshot of the controversial post, which was later deleted.

BJP workers staged protests at Hazratganj on Saturday evening.