In run-up to UP polls, deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya positions himself as face of hardline Hindutva

LUCKNOW: Is UP’s deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, with deep roots in Vishwa Hindu Parishad, is back to his old self in the run-up to the high-stake UP elections? The question has gained currency with Maurya going on a verbal blitzkrieg using the lexicon of hardline Hindutva to target his rivals.
Last week, the deputy CM hit back at the Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav by calling him “Akhilesh Ali Jinnah” over the latter’s recent controversial remarks comparing Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah with Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
Earlier, he stirred a row with a tweet claiming that while construction of grand temples were under way in Ayodhya and Varanasi, preparations were afoot for a temple in Mathura. Next, the UP deputy CM attributed the poor law and order situation in previous regimes to people who wore “lungi” and “topi” and added that Yogi government has given a befitting reply to ‘lungi’ and ‘topiwala’ goons.
While Maurya couldn’t be reached despite several attempts and senior BJP leaders distanced themselves from his remarks, political analysts say such statements are an indication of the stance that BJP might adopt against its opponents in the fight for the UP’s crown in 2022.
“Maurya’s recent statement unlikely to be the diatribe of a singular person,” says an observer.
SP has not taken Maurya’s remarks quietly. Party MLC and Akhliesh’s aide, Udai Veer Singh, called Maurya an “irresponsible” leader who has no regard for the constitutional position he occupies.
“All this is being done deliberately to divert people’s attention from key issues. Moreover, Maurya seeks to hog the limelight out of desperation and frustration after being sidelined in his party for the past many years,” Singh said.
The MLC asked if BJP leaders are trying to “spread anarchy” for sheer political gains by such irresponsible statements.
But UP BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said that Maurya’s statements should not be seen through communal lens. He claimed that the deputy CM made the “lungi” and “topi” statement in reference to the problems faced by some traders in Prayagraj during the SP regime.
“Likewise, his tweet with reference to Mathura projected BJP’s commitment to make Hindu religious places `bhavya’ (grand) and an attractive religious tourist spot,” Tripathi added.
Maurya’s Mathura tweet came a week after police clamped Section 144 in the religious town following a threat by a right wing group of installing a statue of lord Krishna in Shahi Eidgah on December 6.Tripathi said Akhilesh whipped up Jinnah’s name and, therefore, Maurya should not be blamed for calling SP chief as “Akhilesh Ali Jinnah”.
Maurya was a key functionary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad before he formally joined BJP in 2002. After two defeats, he won the Sirathu assembly seat in 2012 and then Lok Sabha election from Phulpur in 2014.
Subsequently, Maurya was made UP BJP chief in 2016 even as the saffron outfit sought to project an OBC face in 2017 assembly elections that saw BJP storming to power in UP with an overwhelming majority.