In what appears to be a part of an effort to shed its “pro-Muslim” image, the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh has started distributing copies of the Bhagavad Gita among Hindus along with a copy of the biography of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
Confirming that the Gita was being distributed along with the Hindi and English translations of the book, Winds of Change , SP Faizabad district president Jai Shankar Pandey said this was one way of showcasing the government’s achievements.
The SP has since made a course correction. It now claims that it is also distributing copies of the Koran .
“Akhilesh Yadav is the hero of our composite culture. We are distributing the Gita and the Koran among the educated people to make them aware of the misrepresentation of Hinduism by the BJP-RSS combine, and expose how these organisations tried to destroy our composite culture,” said Mr. Pandey. This seems to be a local initiative as the central leadership claimed it was not aware of it.
