Ramcharitmanas row: FIR filed against SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya in Lucknow

The FIR was registered following a complaint by Bhartiya Janata Party worker Shivendra Mishra over Maurya's comments on Ramcharitmanas penned by 16th-century poet Tulsidas.

Lucknow: Amid a raging controversy over Samajwadi Party MLC Swami Prasad Maurya's comments over Ramcharitmanas penned by 16th-century poet Tulsidas, the Lucknow police on Tuesday registered an FIR against Maurya, officials said. The FIR was registered over a complaint by Bhartiya Janata Party worker Shivendra Mishra.

DCP Central Aparna Kaushik confirmed that an FIR has been registered against Swami Prasad Maurya under IPC sections 295A, 298, 504, 505(2), 153a, at Hazratganj police station. The FIR comes amid an uproar by Hindu organizations over Maurya's comments over Ramcharitmanas.

Maurya on January 22 alleged that certain portions of the epic poem “insult a large section of society on the basis of caste” and demanded that the poem should be banned. In retaliation, BJP activist Shivendra Mishra has now alleged that Maurya made indecent remarks against Ramcharitmanas and its respected poet and saint Tulsidas. Maurya's statements have stirred controversy with several right-wing leaders slating him for the comments, deeming them atrocious and disrespectful.

On Monday, Aryavart Nirman Sangh's national president Bhupesh Sharma and the National Spokesperson of the organization Umesh Pathak reached the Kasganj SP office to demand action against Maurya. The two demanded that the SP leadership expel the leader from the party. The protestors raised slogans against the SP leader and burnt his effigy in the process.

MLC Swami Prasad Maurya from Samajwadi Party has served as a minister in the previous government of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Before the assembly elections in 2022, Maurya left the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and joined the Samajwadi Party (SP).