Ramcharitmanas row a ploy by SP, alleges BJP

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”.

With inputs from News18