Zee News Exclusive: Will SP's Swami Prasad Maurya be Arrested Amid Ramcharitmanas row? Yogi Adityanath Answers

New Delhi: Samajwadi Party's Swami Prasad Maurya is currently facing the heat from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders over his comments on the Hindu epic 'Ramcharitmanas'. The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council member had recently courted controversy after commenting that portions of the Hindu text "denigrated" Dalits and women. Following his remarks, at least two FIRs were registered against Maurya in the state capital Lucknow, one of them after photocopies of some portions of the sacred text were burned in a protest held by an OBC organisation.

In an interview with Zee News on Saturday (February 4, 2023), Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also spoke on the ongoing controversy. The senior BJP leader said that the issue of Ramcharitmanas issue is being raised by Samajwadi Party to divert attention from Uttar Pradesh's development. 

"The public is not going to pay heed to this," Adityanath told Zee News' Deepak Chaurasia.

He also slammed the Akhilesh Yadav-led party for the atmosphere it created in Uttar Pradesh from 1989-90 till 2017.

ALSO READ | Swami Prasad Maurya Made General Secretary in new SP National Executive, BJP Says 'Rewarded for Insulting Ramcharitmanas'

"Development, obviously, has not been their agenda," the UP CM said.

"The politics of 'parivarvad' and 'jativaad' won't be successful," he added.

He also spoke on Swami Prasad Maurya's possible arrest and said, "Let the investigation carry on."

Adityanath said that the agencies will take action "when the time comes".

#EXCLUSIVE: समाजवादी पार्टी पर योगी आदित्यनाथ का बड़ा हमला, कहा 'SP के लिए विकास एजेंडा नहीं था' #YogiOnZee #YogiAdityanath #UttarPradesh @myogiadityanath @DChaurasia2312 @myogioffice pic.twitter.com/rOwIrwXiao

— Zee News (@ZeeNews) February 4, 2023

A cabinet minister in the previous BJP government in the state, Swami Prasad Maurya had resigned and joined the SP before the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

He then contested the election from the Fazilnagar Assembly seat in the Kushinagar district but lost.

He was later sent to the legislative council by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.

Watch Yogi Adityanath's full interview with Zee News