‘Puris & politics’: Woman claims father being ‘harassed’ after she offered puris to Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow: She had offered ‘puris’ (a small round unleavened wheat bread that is deep fried until it puffs up and turns brown) to Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav who happened to be passing by the place where she had organized a ‘bhandara’ (feast) not realizing that it could acquire political colours pitting the SP against the BJP.

The woman, identified as Anjali, who hailed from dalit community, claimed that her father, who was an employee with the Cantonment Board, was ‘demoted’ within days after videos showing Akhilesh eating ‘puris’ at the ‘bhandara’ organized by her on the occasion of Ambedkar birth anniversary last month prompting Akhilesh to dub the BJP as ‘anti-PDP’ (pichda, dalit, alpsankhyak).

Anjali, a resident of Lucknow, met the SP president at his party office here on Wednesday and made the claim. She said that her father Umesh Kumar, who was a supervisor, was demoted to a ‘safai karmchari’ (sanitary worker) after the videos of Akhilesh having the ‘puris’ later went viral on social media platforms.

Akhilesh had eaten the ‘puris’ after the woman requested him to come to her ‘bhandara’ when he passed by the spot after visiting a Gurudwara. Akhilesh accepted the request and stopped there to enjoy the fresh and hot ‘puris’.

The SP president said that the incident was reflective of the ‘anti-PDP’ mindset of the saffron party. ‘’It is an example of petty politics,’’ he said, sharing a picture on his ‘X’ handle.

According to the sources, the Board officials denied the allegations of harassment and said that Umesh Kumar was acted against as he had violated the service rules by directly inviting senior defense officers to the ‘bhandara’.