The Samajwadi Party has distanced itself from the controversial statement of party leader Swami Prasad Maurya’s statement on Ramcharitmanas.

SP president Akhilesh Yadav has also expressed displeasure on the issue.

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SP spokesperson Ravidas Mehrotra in a statement here on Monday said it was a personal statement of Swami Prasad Maurya and the party does not support his views.

He also said that party president Akhilesh Yadav was not happy for creating such unnecessary controversy.

Swami Prasad Maurya, in a statement given on Ramcharitmanas on Sunday, demanded a ban on the work of Tulsidas. He had said that Dalits and women have been insulted in Ramcharitmanas, adding that Tulsidas wrote the book for his own pleasure.

BJP leader Aparna Yadav, who is sister-in-law of former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, alleged that by raking up controversy on Ramcharitmanas, Swami Prasad Maurya has given an example of his character.

“The truth is that he has not read Ramcharitmanas at all. Ram is the character of India. Ram is equally important even today. Ramcharitmanas has been translated into almost every language and even after thousands of years, if it is recited somewhere, it seems new…” said Aparna.

Maurya had joined the SP from BJP before the 2022 assembly polls even though he was a minister in the Yogi Ministry. He lost the assembly polls. His daughter Sanghamitra Maurya is still the BJP MP from Badaun.