Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday landed in a political storm by comparing the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) focus on cowsheds to his party's emphasis on perfume parks. He said that the BJP prefers "foul smell" as it builds cowsheds, whereas the SP favours "fragrance", and hence, it has developed perfume parks. His statement has drawn sharp criticism from the BJP, which accused him of insulting Hindu beliefs.
"These people (the BJP) like stench; that's why they are building cowsheds. We are Samajwadis; we want development and are fond of fragrance; that's why we were building a perfume park," Yadav said while talking to reporters. Is the government catching bulls or not? They are even eating up that money," he alleged.
However, his statement did not go down well with the Bharatiya Janata Party, which alleged that the Samajwadi Party chief insulted the Hindu faith with his remarks.
Taking to X with a self-recorded video, BJP's national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, "After insult to Rana Sangha now SP & Akhilesh Yadav insults hindu Astha & says : “Cows and cowsheds spread FOUL SMELL. That’s why we make perfume parks."* Shri Krishna himself is called “Gopal" – one who had divine love for cows and their protection and care.. Shameful how low one can go for vote bank appeasement…" (sic).
On Akhilesh Yadav's statement, BJP MP Dinesh Sharma said that along with the construction of the perfume park, a perfume scam has also taken place. "Why are you looking for smell in a cowshed? Look for the Sanatan faith in a cowshed," he said.
