BJP-SBSP spar over Owaisi’s dargah visit in UP

TIL Desk/National/Lucknow/ The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi’s visit to dargah sharif at Bahraich to pay obeisance to medieval Ghaznavid general, Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud a.k.a. Ghazi Miyan has kicked off a major controversy. Owaisi visited the dargah on Thursday evening during his visit to Bahraich and offered ‘chadar’.

His visit has led to trading of charges between the BJP and the Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha constituents — AIMIM and the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP). Uttar Pradesh Minister, Anil Rajbhar, said that the AIMIM and SBSP alliance was an insult to the backward Rajbhar community. “The visit of Owaisi to the dargah is an insult to Maharaja Suheldev, an 11th century ruler, who is said to have defeated and killed Masud in a battle at Bahraich in 1034 AD,” he said.

The minister said that the BJP government was working to restore the pride of Suheldev by constructing a memorial and installing a statue at Chittaura in Bahraich. “The leaders of Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha have hurt the sentiments of the Hindu community who revered Maharaja Suheldev,” he said. Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Sardhana Assembly seat in Meerut, Sangeet Som, also lashed out at Owaisi and Om Prakash Rajbhar on the issue.