Mainpuri. Samajwadi Party (SP) National General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav is embroiled in controversy by allegedly making derogatory remarks on Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded legal action against Yadav.
As soon as a video of the SP leader’s remarks went viral on social media, there was an uproar. However, Ram Gopal said that his remarks were not targeted at the Chief Justice and demanded an investigation into the entire matter. Ram Gopal’s controversial comment reportedly came in response to a question asked by the media in which he was asked to react to Chandrachud’s statement given in Pune.
Chandrachud had given a statement that he had prayed to God for the resolution of the Ayodhya dispute and had said that if one continues to have faith, God will find a way. Answering the question, Ram Gopal said, “I do not want to comment on this. When you raise the dead, they become ghosts and follow you.” In the same context, on another question from the media, Yadav was heard using an abusive word and asking why they should take ‘cognizance of all such people’.
Amid the controversy over the remarks, Yadav clarified that he was not asked any question related to the Chief Justice or the judiciary and he did not say anything in this regard. “I have asked the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police of Mainpuri to investigate (the matter),” he said in a post in Hindi on ‘X’.
Ram Gopal said, “Today Samajwadi Party candidate Tej Pratap Singh filed his nomination for the by-election on Karhal assembly seat. I was also in Mainpuri. There were hundreds of people from electronic media. “Most of them were asking about Karhal, Milkipur and Bahraich.” He said that some mischievous people created an imaginary question on my answer to the irrelevant statement of some people about Bahraich and added the name of the Chief Justice in it.
Ram Gopal said that he was not asked any question related to the Chief Justice and the judiciary, nor did he say anything in this regard. UP BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said, “Ram Gopal’s comments are contempt of the judiciary and the Samajwadi Party should take action against him. He is known as a professor, but his actions are like that of a naughty child.” Asked about Yadav’s remarks at a press conference in Delhi, BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra said leaders of the opposition ‘India’ faction do not like to pray and hoped God would give them wisdom.
BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya said in a post on ‘X’ that a case of contempt of court should be registered against Ram Gopal Yadav. He said, “The pain of building Ram temple in Ayodhya after 500 years of struggle is unbearable for the so-called secularists.” Senior leaders including SP president Akhilesh Yadav, Dimple Yadav and Ram Gopal were in Mainpuri on Monday to file nomination of Tej Pratap Yadav for the by-election from Karhal assembly seat, where voting is scheduled on November 13.