Amethi (UP), Feb 11 (PTI) Samajwadi Party general secretary Swami Prasad Maurya termed the Uttar Pradesh legislators’ visit to the Ayodhya Ram temple on Sunday as an act of “show”, and said that lawmakers offering prayers on “government orders” was “not appropriate”.
Maurya said those who went to the temple on Sunday did it “out of compulsion”.
“It is a show. It is an illusion. Why should we follow such orders?” the SP leader told reporters in Amethi.
Maurya made the remarks during a visit to Hasanpur village of Jagdishpur assembly constituency to attend the ‘Constitution Awareness Seminar’.
Over 300 Uttar Pradesh legislators packed in 10 buses and some cars travelled Sunday from Lucknow to the new Ayodhya Ram Mandir, a state government-organised event skipped only by the opposition Samajwadi Party.
Asked about Congress’ ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, Maurya said he would participate in it when the Rahul Gandhi-led yatra reaches Uttar Pradesh.
The SP leader said Rahul Gandhi is currently trying to connect the society through his ‘nyaya yatra’.
“I welcome the work that they are doing to establish brotherhood and whenever their yatra reaches Uttar Pradesh, I will definitely participate somewhere,” he said.
On Pramod Krishnam’s expulsion from Congress, Maurya said the Congress and the opposition INDIA bloc will not be affected by it.
Maurya said while Krishnam was a Congress member, his “soul was wandering close to the BJP” for the last one year.
“The expulsion of Pramod Krishnam from the party has not affected the Congress and it will not make any difference to the INDIA bloc, rather it will become stronger,” he said.
Maurya, to a question on whether the SP will field a candidate from Amethi Lok Sabha constituency, said that leaders of the INDIA bloc are yet to finalise which party will contest from specific seats.
Rahul Gandhi is a three-time MP from Amethi but lost to BJP’s Smriti Irani in the 2019 general elections. PTI COR ABN SKY SKY
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