JOIN USControversy over Ramcharitmanas ploy by SP to stay relevant: UP BJP chief
BJP Uttar Pradesh chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary on Tuesday said SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya's remarks on the Ramcharitmanas was "nonsensical ranting" and claimed that such comments were being made as the opposition party had no agenda left.
Maurya, a general secretary in the Samajwadi Party (SP), had recently courted controversy after he alleged that certain verses in the Ramcharitmanas -- a popular version of the Ramayana penned by Tulsidas -- "insult" a large section of society on the basis of caste and demanded a ban on those passages in the text.
"There is a BJP government at the Centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in the state under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and we come to the government with an agenda for development," he said.
"We are working for the development of the country and the state. As the opposition does not have any issue, they are indulging in 'anargal pralaap' (nonsensical ranting)," Chaudhary told PTI when asked about Maurya's statements on the Ramcharitmanas.
On Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' and 'Hath se Hath Jodo' campaigns and if they would affect the upcoming elections in the country, he said, "In a democracy, everyone has to the right to speak his mind and raise his voice."
"They have the right to campaign, but I do not see any role of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh," the state BJP chief said.
The Kanyakumari-Kashmir yatra, which concluded on January 30 in Srinagar, covered Ghaziabad, Baghpat and Shamli in its Uttar Pradesh leg. The foot march had begun from the southern tip of India on September 7.
Asked about Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat's remarks that caste does not exist before God and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav remarks on the caste system, Chaudhary said the SP is the "biggest casteist and 'pariwarwadi' party".
"If we see the history of the SP, then their caste and their family are their priority. Whenever the SP got an opportunity to form government, it could not go beyond caste and sect," he claimed.
Citing that the SP was formed in 1992, the BJP leader said today, in 30-31 years, this party could not see beyond Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav.
He said Akhilesh Yadav has two uncles. While Ram Gopal Yadav is the party's principal general secretary, Shivpal Yadav is a general secretary, he said.
SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav passed away in October last year.
"Certainly, the SP's politics is casteist and dynastic. They do not move beyond this family politics. In their government too, their family, caste and Saifai were priorities," he said.
On Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati's allegation of collusion between the BJP and the SP over Hindu-Muslim differences, Chaudhary said, "Our priority is the poor and the weak. The BJP does not play caste politics. Everyone knows the prime minister's resolution of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas'."
He also challenged the SP and other opposition parties to prove if there was any discrimination in the beneficial schemes run by the BJP at the Centre or in Uttar Pradesh.
"Whatever schemes used to happen in their (opposition) governments, only a particular section of society used to get benefits. There is no discrimination in any of our schemes and with a transparent system, the government is determined for the development of the last person," he said.
The Uttar Pradesh BJP chief backed the action being initiated in the BJP government in Assam against child marriage "within the boundary of the law."