Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], July 23 : Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Wednesday called Samajwadi Party (SP) and its chief Akhilesh Yadav "Nawaazwadi" while accusing him and his party of not having faith in the constitution.
His remarks follow Akhilesh Yadav's apparent meeting inside a mosque on Parliament Street in New Delhi.
He stated that the Indian constitution doesn't permit the use of religious places for political purposes.
"Samajwadi Party chief and Samajwadi Party always violate the constitution. The Indian Constitution states that religious places cannot be used for political purposes. They do not have faith in the constitution. 'Woh hamesha Namaazwadi bane rehte hai' and that is what he is doing," Pathak told ANI.
Reacting to this, SP MP Rajeev Rai said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should instead address the viral videos of its leaders.
"Do we have to take a license from BJP to visit temples and mosques now? Should we make BJP's photos viral? They don't speak about the videos and photos of their leaders coming in from the streets," Rai told ANI.
Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav stated that the BJP wishes to keep people divided. He said that faith connects, but the ruling party in the centre doesn't want that to happen.
"Faith connects...However, the BJP wants people to stay divided, not united. We have faith in all faiths...BJP's tool is religion," Yadav told reporters.
As this happened, BJP Minority Morcha National President Jamal Siddiqui lashed out at the Samajwadi Party and its MP, Mohibullah Nadvi, for turning the mosque into their party's office. Nadvi serves as the Imam of the Parliament Street Mosque.
"You can see many SP MPs from the SP President. Rampur MP Mohibullah Nadvi is also present among them. Mohibullah Nadvi used to do the Imam's prayer in this mosque. But he is not ready to leave the mosque. Today it has crossed all limits! He made the mosque his party's office. We strongly condemn this," Siddiqui said in a statement.
He said that they will demand that Delhi Minister Rekha Gupta and the Delhi Waqf Board to remove Rampur MP Mohibullah Nadvi from the responsibility of the Imam of Parliament Street mosque and take strict action against him.
Siddiqui said that the BJP Minority Morcha will hold a protest against Akhilesh Yadav and his MP on July 25, after Friday prayers.