Hans News Service Lucknow

UttarPradesh BJP president Pankaj Chaudhary on Tuesday targeted Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav over his proposed December 12 visit to the Ram temple in Ayodhya, asking him to visit the shrine on December 6 instead and apologise for the killing of ‘kar sevaks’ during the Samajwadi Party’s rule.

“If this is not a new political ploy in the name of Lord Ram but genuine repentance, then visit the Ram temple on December 6, not 12. Apologise for the grave sin of getting hundreds of Ram devotees killed. Do not think your past sins will be washed away; rather, this pretence of devotion to Lord Ram will cost you whatever little political existence you have left,” Chaudhary, also a Union Minister, said in a post on X.

The BJP state president’s mention of December 6 refers to the anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992.

The attack came amid a series of barbs by BJP leaders questioning Yadav’s religious credentials and accusing the SP of appeasement politics.

BJP MLC Subhash Yaduvansh also slammed the SP chief, alleging that his party’s government had ordered firing on kar sevaks in Ayodhya and that those responsible for the incident were now talking about Sanatan Dharma.

He asked Yadav to take a dip in the Saryu river and apologise to the kar sevaks and their families before visiting the Ram temple.

Yaduvansh claimed that the BJP government had already developed world-class infrastructure in Ayodhya and established the temple town on the global map. He also challenged Yadav to clarify his stand on the demand for a grand temple at the Krishna Janmabhoomi site in Mathura.