Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Swami Prasad Maurya questioned the need for Ramlalla’s ‘Pran-Pratishtha’ in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Thursday (8 February).

Targeting BJP he said that the party is behaving like Ramlalla didn’t exist before it. He added, “When Ramlalla is being worshipped for thousands of years, then what’s the question of pran-pratishtha by spending crores of rupees.”

“Pran-pratishtha was organised by BJP and crores of Ramlalla devotees were stopped from participating in it. There was nobody there other than BJP, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP),” he said.

“You should have established the Ramlalla idol, which was in the tent, at the templ. From where did pran-pratishtha come? Do you want to prove that Lord Ram had become lifeless,” Maurya targeted the BJP.

However, his party didn’t defend his statements as another SP leader Manoj Pandey said, “Whatever Swami Prasad is saying, I won’t comment on that. The person who has lost his mental stability will keep speaking like this.”

“Party has told him many times but if a demented man isn’t listening to the party’s direction no one can do anything,” Pandey added. Notably, SP national president Akhilesh Yadav had reportedly instructed party leaders to not comment on religious matters last month.

However, Maurya didn’t stop even after this. Last month, he defended the Mulayam Singh Yadav government’s decision to fire on karsevaks by saying that it was the then government’s “duty to fire bullets on anarchic elements”.

Maurya is known for his anti-Hindu controversial statements. He had earlier said, “Hindu ek dhokha hai” and on the occasion of Diwali, he disrespected Hinduism by questioning the existence of Goddess Lakshmi and said, “How can Lakshmi be born with four hands.”