The Uttar Pradesh unit of the BJP released a video clip on X on Tuesday, May 7. In it, Samajwadi Party leader Gagan Yadav, who is reportedly very close to Akhilesh Yadav, the chief of the Samajwadi Party, is heard openly threatening Hindus.
He is distinctly heard declaring that he has instructed his supporters to remain calm until Mainpuri casts its ballot in the third phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on May 7. In the now-viral video, the leader of the Samajwadi Party is heard saying that, following the completion of the voting of the Mainpuri constituency, he and his associates would ensure that the Ram Bhakts were held accountable for their deeds.
The video was shared by Uttar Pradesh BJP with a caption in Hindi which roughly translated to, “In keeping with SP tradition, Gagan Yadav, an aide to Akhilesh Yadav and leader of the SP, has insulted Ram bhakts once more. But such opponents of Shri Ram will not be forgiven by the public.
सपा नेता और अखिलेश यादव के करीबी गगन यादव ने एक बार फिर सपाई परंपरा के अनुसार रामभक्तों को अपमानित किया है। लेकिन ऐसे श्रीराम विरोधियों को जनता माफ नहीं करेगी। pic.twitter.com/HdOp89rf4I
— BJP Uttar Pradesh (@BJP4UP) May 6, 2024
The video starts with a clip which shows pictures of Gagan Yadav accompanying Akhilesh Yadav during party campaigning. In the next clip, Gagan Yadav is seen speaking to some of his aides, in front of whom he openly declares, “The third phase of elections is scheduled for the seventh. When the Mainpuri votes are concluded, we will compel them to face the music. Despite our immense strength, we are powerless. Our boys are furious, but we’ve asked them to remain calm. These are the Jai Shri Ram people. We’re going to drive the Ram out of them,” the SP leader says while it appears that the people in the vicinity concur with Gagan Yadav’s assertion.
This video soon went viral on X and Gagan Yadav started trending on the microblogging platform. Several Netizens shared the video and demanded police action against the Samajwadi leader for openly issuing veiled threats against Hindus.
प्रकरण के संबंध में जांच कर संबंधित को आवश्यक कार्यवाही हेतु निर्देशित किया गया है।
— MAINPURI POLICE (@mainpuripolice) May 7, 2024
Shortly afterwards, Gagan Yadav made a pathetic attempt to defend his threat against Ram Bhakts in a video message posted on his Facebook profile. He stated, “Akhilesh Yadav’s wife, Dimple Yadav, was publicly abused by a few miscreants during the Mainpuri poll on May 7. Jai Shri Ram was being chanted by the miscreants. I was enraged by this, and everything that was said was meant as retribution.”
He went on to claim that whatever was spoken was meant as payback for Dimple Yadav’s verbal abuse and that it wasn’t appropriate to turn it into a political issue. He added that nothing was more important to him than his self-respect and his society.
100 Samajwadi Party workers face an FIR for damaging Maharana Pratap’s statue in Mainpuri
Notably, prior to this controversy, the Mainpuri police registered an FIR against 100 Samajwadi Party workers for allegedly damaging the statue of Maharana Pratap in Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri.
According to the police, the incident occurred after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh held a roadshow in support of his wife and Lok Sabha candidate Dimple Yadav on Saturday night.
“After the roadshow, some party workers came here and tried to raise their party’s flag at the statue of Maharana Pratap. We are looking at the CCTV footage,” Mainpuri Superintendent of Police Vinod Kumar said.
It is noteworthy that Dimple Yadav of the Samajwadi Party won the Mainpuri parliamentary by-election in December 2022, defeating Raghuraj Singh Shakya of the BJP by a margin of 2,88,461 votes.
Considered the SP’s bastion, the seat was held by party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and it was vacated after his death on October 10. The date of voting for the Mainpuri Lok Sabha Constituency Election was May 7 (Phase 3).
