Aug 21, 2023, 5:25 PM IST
In an alarming incident, a shoe was hurled at senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Swami Prasad Maurya by an individual disguised as a lawyer during a party event held in Lucknow recently. The attempt missed its intended target as the shoe did not hit Maurya.
However, quick-acting party workers managed to apprehend the man responsible for the act and subsequently subjected him to physical retaliation. Videos capturing the scene depict Samajwadi Party workers engaging in a confrontation with the person, while police personnel are present on the scene.
The perpetrator, identified as Akash Saini, was later sent to a medical facility where he is currently undergoing treatment.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Lucknow) Aniandy Vikram Singh shared, "The accused has been taken to a hospital and further details will be known after questioning him."
This incident unfolded at the Samajwadi Party's gathering hosted at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan. The event was slated to feature a speech by party president Akhilesh Yadav.
In response to the event, Akhilesh Yadav took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter), where he stated, "When the person who threw ink in Ghosi himself told that this work was done by BJP people, then what more to say now."
Swami Prasad Maurya, a notable OBC (Other Backward Classes) leader in Uttar Pradesh, made a high-profile switch from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to the Samajwadi Party shortly before the state's 2022 assembly elections.
Recently, the 69-year-old politician found himself embroiled in controversy due to his remarks on the Hindu epic Ramcharitmanas. Maurya's assertion that certain sections of the Ramcharitmanas hold derogatory implications for a significant portion of the population based on caste sparked intense criticism from various quarters.