If Akhilesh Yadav doesn't support Swami Prasad Maurya's remarks, he should expel him from SP: UP Dy-CM

Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Tuesday said if Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav does not support Swami Prasad Maurya's remarks on the Ramcharitmanas, then he should expel him from the party.

Swami Prasad Maurya, who is considered a prominent OBC leader in Uttar Pradesh, had said certain portions of the Ramcharitmanas "insult" a large section of society on the basis of caste and demanded that these be "banned".

Condemning Samajwadi Party (SP) leader's statements, the deputy chief minister said that the SP chief should make his stand clear instead of misguiding the over 25 crore people of the state.

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"The use of such language hurts the feelings of crores of people," he said and claimed that the statement on the Ramcharitmanas -- a popular version of the Ramayana penned by poet Tulsidas -- is not of Swami Prasad Maurya but that of Yadav.

"If Akhilesh Yadav does not endorse the statement of Swami Prasad Maurya, then he (Maurya) should be expelled from the party (SP)," the deputy chief minister told reporters at the Uttar Pradesh BJP office here.

Without naming Swami Prasad Maurya, he said that "a new leader has gone to the SP after drinking water of different 'ghats' and he has no stature in the SP".

Swami Prasad Maurya had quit the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party to join the BJP in Uttar Pradesh in 2016, and before the 2022 state assembly polls, he joined the SP.

"His statement on the Ramcharitmanas had some opposition from SP leaders but Yadav's silence raises questions," Keshav Prasad Maurya said, adding that the SP chief is yet to react on the issue.

"He (Yadav) does not get tired of saying that they are the descendants of Lord Ram and Lord Krishna. But his silence, is an effort to deteriorate the atmosphere in Uttar Pradesh," the senior BJP leader said.

On Sunday, Swami Prasad Maurya had said, "There are certain lines in which names of castes such as 'teli' and 'kumhaar' are mentioned."

"The feelings of lakhs of people hailing from these castes have been hurt," the SP leader had said, adding that "the objectionable portions of the Ramcharitmanas that insult on the basis of 'jaati', 'varn' and 'varg' should be banned".

Remembering veteran socialist Ram Manohar Lohia, the deputy chief minister claimed, "Lohia had said that Lord Ram is the 'karma' of this country, Lord Krishna is the heart of this country and Lord Shiva is the 'mastishk' of this country."

"If he (Yadav) considers Lohia to be a socialist, then why is he not opposing such a statement?" he asked.

The BJP leader alleged that during SP's tenure in government in Uttar Pradesh, bullets were fired on "devotees of Lord Ram ('kaarsevaks')" in Ayodhya, and the "Saryu river turned red". This is the real character of the SP, he said.

What leaders of Lalu Prasad Yadav's party -- RJD -- are doing in Bihar, the same thing is being done by leaders of Akhilesh Yadav's party in Uttar Pradesh, Keshav Prasad Maurya said.

Earlier this month, Bihar Education Minister and RJD leader Chandra Shekhar landed in a controversy after he alleged that certain verses of the Ramcharitmanas promoted social discrimination.