Lucknow, May 7 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Brajesh Pathak launched a sharp attack on Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav over his remarks on the Brahmin community on Wednesday.
Pathak condemned Yadav's politics as deeply rooted in casteism and accused his party of spreading the poison of caste-based divisions in society.
He also asserted that Yadav has no moral right to speak on Brahmin's issues, given the humiliation meted out to that community under his party's rule.
Responding to Yadav's press conference earlier on Wednesday, Pathak recalled incidents of violence against Brahmins during the Samajwadi Party regime.
He cited the brutal murder of Neeraj Mishra from Kannauj, and the public humiliation of the Vajpayee family in Etawah. Neeraj Mishra's throat was slit and he was sent to Lucknow, the deputy chief minister said.
Pathak alleged that the Samajwadi Party government systematically targeted and mistreated Brahmins. It consistently attacks the community and hurts their sentiments, he said.
Earlier in the day, talking to reporters at party headquarters after meeting a delegation of Brahmins led by former minister Pawan Pandey, Akhilesh Yadav had called the Yogi Adityanath government "anti-Brahmin".
Alleging the Yogi government of systematically targeting the community, Yadav claimed that people from all sections of the society will unite to remove it from power.
"Those in power don't like 'tilak' (indicating Brahmins). They consider the community a political threat and carry out repressive actions against them," Yadav said in a veiled attack on the chief minister.
Branding Adityanath as an "OCM" (outgoing chief minister), Yadav said, "There is one OCM and two DCMs (deputy chief ministers) in the state. That is why injustice is at its peak," he said.
Yadav said this was not the first time that Brahmin oppression had been raised.
"Remember the incident in Kanpur Dehat where a family was burnt alive? When their son demanded justice, he was stripped and beaten by the police in the cold," he said.
Yadav further alleged police misconduct in multiple cases, including one in Jaunpur where a boy was allegedly beaten to death for making a TikTok video that displeased the local police.
"We have learned that the police were demanding money. The family was threatened and harassed. This is not the first instance. Such incidents expose the reality of law enforcement under the current regime," he said.