The BJP on Wednesday accused Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav of holding a political meeting inside a mosque near Parliament, triggering a sharp response from the opposition party. A photograph showing Akhilesh Yadav along with party MPs Mohibulla Nadvi, Dimple Yadav, Dharmendra Yadav, and Zia ur Rahman Barq seated in the mosque was widely circulated by BJP leaders, who alleged that the gathering had political overtones.
BJP IT department head Amit Malviya posted the image on X, saying, “Akhilesh Yadav held a political meeting at the mosque near Parliament. These are the same people who distanced themselves from the grand inauguration of the Ram Temple... This is not secularism but hypocrisy for the sake of vote bank.”
BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari echoed the claim, calling SP "blatantly anti-Hindu" and referring to the party’s decision to boycott the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony in January 2024.
Akhilesh Yadav hits back, says faith unites, BJP spreads negativity
Responding to the allegation, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said the BJP was attempting to spread negativity and distract the public from pressing issues. “The BJP is a group of people with a negative mindset. Faith is positive, it unites people. They get upset with anything that unites,” he told reporters at the Parliament complex. “We do politics of uniting people, bringing them together,” he added.
Dimple Yadav: It was a social visit, not a political meeting
SP MP Dimple Yadav also dismissed the BJP's claim, saying the meeting was purely social. “Imam sahab is our MP, his wife was also there. We had gone for a social gathering, there was no political meeting,” she said.
Dimple accused the BJP of trying to divert public attention from more serious concerns. “The government doesn’t want to talk about the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, or about the intelligence failure in the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. So they are trying to stir up baseless controversies,” she said.
SP defends gathering as non-political, BJP calls it hypocrisy
As the row escalated, the SP maintained that the gathering was non-political and took place in a personal and social context. However, the BJP continued to frame it as political posturing cloaked in religious symbolism. The controversy comes amid heightened political tensions and sensitivities over religious and electoral narratives.
(With inputs from agency)
