Akhilesh Yadav promises to install gold statue of Maharaja Suheldev in Lucknow if SP returns to power

Lucknow, Jun 10 (PTI) On a day Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath unveiled a bronze statue of Maharaja Suheldev in Bahraich, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav promised to install a gold statue of the 11th-century ruler at Lucknow's Gomti Riverfront if his party returns to power in the state.

Referring to the legendary 1033 AD battle where Maharaja Suheldev defeated and killed Mahmud Ghaznavi's general, Ghazi Salar Masud, near Chittora Lake in Bahraich, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister paid tributes to the legendry ruler from the Rajbhar community on Tuesday.

According to a press release issued by the SP headquarters in the evening, the party celebrated Maharaja Suheldev's "Vijay Diwas" (Victory Day) at the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Auditorium in Lucknow.

"Today we commemorate Victory Day with a firm resolve that, in the future, when a Samajwadi government is formed in Uttar Pradesh, we will install a radiant gold statue of the great Emperor Maharaja Suheldev at Gomti Riverfront in Lucknow and unveil it with full honours in a grand ceremony," Yadav said on the occasion.

Several party leaders, including former MP Uday Pratap Singh, national secretary Rajendra Chaudhary, MP and former state president Naresh Uttam Patel and state president Shyam Lal Pal were present at the event.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Adityanath unveiled a 40-foot, 17-ton bronze statue of Maharaja Suheldev in Bahraich. During the event, Adityanath launched a scathing attack on the opposition, particularly the SP and Congress, accusing them of neglecting the legacy of Maharaja Suheldev.

"I want to ask the Congress, Samajwadi Party and other parties, why is that Maharaja Suheldev did not get this respect earlier. Why was this grand memorial built after Maharaja Suheldev not constructed earlier," Adityanath said.

"Those who fought to save India from foreign invaders, who protected its culture, religion, and land, were deprived of even basic recognition and facilities," he said, targeting the previous governments.

"It's because they were worried about their vote bank. If you start naming public places after great personalities, their appeasement politics fails. And it is due to the Muslim vote bank that they could never utter a word against foreign invaders," Adityanath said In a separate statement, while addressing party workers and leaders from various districts of the state at the SP headquarters, Akhilesh Yadav emphasised the need for full preparedness for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

"The BJP is a dishonest and deceptive party. It indulges in malpractice during elections," he alleged.

Yadav demanded that the Election Commission discharge its responsibility with integrity. "It is the duty of the Election Commission to ensure free and fair elections, and it must carry out this role honestly," he said. PTI KIS RT RT