BJP leaders unveil Lord Parshuram statue to counter Akhilesh's Brahmin outreach bid in UP

Days after Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav had offered puja at a Lord Parshuram temple here as part of his Brahmin outreach efforts, Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma and other BJP leaders on Friday inaugurated a temple of the god in the state capital.

BJP MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi and her son Mayank Joshi, along with deputy CM Sharma and minister Brijesh Pathak, unveiled a statue of Lord Parshuram, venerated by many Brahmins, in Hasoveer temple in the state capital.

The six-foot statue of Lord Parshuram has been brought from Rajasthan.

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The move is being seen as another attempt by the BJP to placate the electorally dominant Brahmin community which is believed to be unhappy with the state government.

In political circles, the unveiling of Lord Parshuram statue in Lucknow during the day was seen as part of the BJP's efforts to counter Akhilesh Yadav's Brahmin outreach bid, but Dinesh Sharma differed.

"It's not BJP but Akhilesh who is imitating us. BJP has installed idols of Parshuram in Kanpur and other places earlier too," Sharma told PTI.

Several parks have also been named after Parshuram in different parts of Uttar Pradesh, he added.

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Not only Parshuram, the BJP has been honouring icons of all castes and community be it Ravi Das, Balmiki or Rana Pratap, he added.

Making a concerted effort to throw the BJP out of power, Yadav had on January 2 offered puja at a temple having a 108-foot-tall statue of Parshuram in village Mahurakala on Purvanchal Express near Lucknow to attract Brahmins towards his party.

Brahmins account for nearly 13 per cent of the state's population and they are being wooed by all the major parties to brighten their chance in the assembly elections only months away from now.

BSP chief Mayawati has already deployed her party's Brahmin face S C Misra to mobilise their support to revive the 2007 social engineering formula of Dalits-Brahmins combination.

The Brahmin leaders of the BJP have also been activated by the party to retain the support of the community.

A large number of the BJP's Brahmin leaders had recently met at party president J P Nadda's residence in Delhi. Subsequently a committee was formed as part of the Brahmin outreach drive.

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