Mainpuri (UP)/New Delhi, Oct 21 (PTI) Samajwadi Party national general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav has found himself in the eye of the storm over his alleged derogatory remark against Chief Justice Of India D Y Chandrachud, with the BJP seeking legal action against the veteran leader.
As a clip of the SP leader's remark went viral on social media and triggered an uproar, he said his comment was not directed at the CJI and sought a probe into the whole issue.
Yadav's controversial remark allegedly came in response to a media query seeking his take on Chandrachud's statement in Pune that he prayed to God for a solution to the Ayodhya dispute and assertion that God finds a way if one holds on to faith.
Responding to the query, Yadav said, "I do not want to comment on this. When you bring back the dead, they turn into ghosts and come after you."
At this point, there was another overlapping media query and Yadav was heard using an expletive and asking why should he take "notice of all such people".
Amid the row over the comment, Yadav clarified that he was not asked any question related to the CJI or the judiciary and that he did not say anything in this regard.
"I have asked the district magistrate and Mainpuri superintendent of police to probe (the issue)," he posted on X in Hindi.
"Today, Samajwadi Party candidate Tej Pratap Singh filed his nomination for the by-election to the 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.
"Some mischievous people generated a hypothetical question on my answer to the irrelevant statement of some people about Bahraich and superimposed the name of the CJI in it. Neither was any question related to the CJI or the judiciary asked nor did I say anything in this regard," Yadav added.
Hitting out at the SP leader, Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said, "Ram Gopal's comment is contempt of the judiciary and the Samajwadi Party should take action against him. He is known as a professor but his actions are like a naughty child."
Asked about Yadav's comment at a press conference in Delhi, BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra said opposition INDIA bloc leaders do not like to pray and hoped that God will give them good sense.
In a post on X, the BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya said Ram Gopal Yadav should be booked for contempt of court.
"The pain of seeing a Ram mandir in Ayodhya after 500 years of struggle is unbearable so-called secularists," he said.
Senior leaders of the Samajwadi Party, including Akhilesh Yadav and Dimple Yadav, were in Mainpuri on Monday for Tej Pratap Yadav's nomination filing from Karhal, where voting will be held on November 13.