With the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections less than a year away, the battle over the narrative of Sanatan Dharma has intensified, with both the BJP and the Samajwadi Party seeking to position themselves as its true defenders.
On Thursday, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav met Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand in Lucknow, sought his blessings and said there was a need to "free Sanatan Dharma from the grip of the unrighteous."
Photographs shared by Akhilesh on social media showed him seated on the floor before the seer and touching his feet.
In a post on X, Akhilesh described the meeting as an opportunity to discuss ways to protect Sanatan Dharma from what he called the "current crisis."
The meeting is politically significant given the history between the two. In 2015, when Akhilesh was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, police resorted to a lathi-charge on Swami Avimukteshwaranand and other sadhus in Varanasi during protests against the state government's decision to ban Durga idol immersion in the Ganga.
The issue resurfaced last year when Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accused the Samajwadi Party of being "anti-Sanatani" while recalling the 2015 incident. However, the Shankaracharya on Wednesday clarified that he had forgiven Akhilesh years ago.
According to the seer, Akhilesh had visited Haridwar several years after the incident to seek forgiveness. He said his guru, the late Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati, had accepted the apology, following which he too chose to forgive the Samajwadi leader.
The Shankaracharya himself was at the centre of controversy earlier this year after his procession was baton-charged by authorities during the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj while he was heading towards the Sangam for a holy dip. He also recently faced a sexual abuse allegation filed by a sadhu considered close to the RSS-BJP. The complainant has since claimed that he was pressured by certain monks and government officials into making false allegations.
After Thursday's meeting, Akhilesh launched a sharp attack on the BJP over the recent theft of devotees' offerings from the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
He said the theft had deeply hurt followers of Sanatan Dharma and alleged that the BJP government's actions had damaged both the country and the faith.
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which manages the temple, is allegedly dominated by members associated with the RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The trust was constituted by the Narendra Modi government in 2020.
Police have arrested eight people, including temple employees and trust staff, in connection with the alleged theft. Investigators claim several of the accused had close links with members of the trust.
