Nation

IIE DIGITAL: Eleven years after the 2015 police baton-charge on Jyotir Math Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand during protests in Varanasi, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav met the seer in Lucknow on Thursday, sought his blessings and said Sanatan Dharma must be "freed from the grip of the unrighteous." The meeting comes amid the controversy surrounding the alleged theft of devotees' donations from the Ram temple in Ayodhya, which has triggered a fresh political confrontation between the Samajwadi Party and the BJP ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections due next year.

Posting photographs of the meeting on X, Akhilesh wrote that he had received the Shankaracharya's blessings and held a discussion on protecting Sanatan Dharma from the "current crisis." The images showed the former chief minister sitting on the floor before the pontiff and touching his feet. His remarks were viewed as a direct response to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who had previously referred to the 2015 baton-charge to accuse the Samajwadi Party of being "anti-Sanatani."

The 2015 incident occurred after Akhilesh Yadav's government ordered a lathi-charge on Swami Avimukteshwaranand and other sadhus protesting the ban on Durga idol immersions in the Ganga. Earlier this year, the Shankaracharya himself was baton-charged during the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj while leading a procession towards the Sangam. He also recently faced a sexual abuse case filed by a sadhu allegedly linked to the RSS-BJP, although the complainant later claimed he had been pressured by certain monks and government officials to falsely implicate the seer.

Responding to Yogi Adityanath's remarks, Swami Avimukteshwaranand said he had already forgiven Akhilesh Yadav after the Samajwadi leader sought forgiveness in Haridwar in the presence of his late guru, Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati. "My guru pardoned Akhilesh, and therefore I also forgave him," the Shankaracharya said.

After the meeting, Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP government of hurting the sentiments of Sanatan followers by failing to prevent the alleged theft of devotees' offerings from the Ram temple in Ayodhya. He said the controversy had damaged both Sanatan Dharma and the country's image. The allegations relate to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which manages the temple, with eight trust and temple employees having been arrested in connection with the case.

Meanwhile, Vishwa Hindu Parishad international president Alok Kumar alleged that one of the arrested accused, Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinu, maintained regular contact with Akhilesh Yadav and claimed the theft was part of a conspiracy to defame the Ram temple. The Samajwadi Party has denied the allegations. With the Assembly elections approaching, the Ram temple donation theft case has emerged as a major political issue, with both the BJP and the Samajwadi Party seeking to project themselves as defenders of Sanatan Dharma.