Varanasi: A group of seers (sadhus) lodged a criminal complaint against MPs Rahul Gandhi, Pappu Yadav and Awadhesh Prasad at Kotwali police station here on Saturday over allegations of hurting religious sentiments.
Yadav, Lok Sabha MP from Bihar’s Purnia, Samajwadi Party leader Prasad and Leader of Opposition Rahul had staged a skit on the Parliament premises in Delhi on Friday to highlight the issue of alleged donation theft at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
DCP (Kashi Zone) Gaurav Banswal, who received the complaint from the group of seers, said that based on the complaint from the seers, an FIR had been registered against Rajesh Ranjan alias Yadav, Prasad and Gandhi under Sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 302 (uttering words or making gestures with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings) and 3(5) (criminal acts committed by multiple people with a shared intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
According to the complainants, the political leaders had misused the saffron attire, traditionally associated with saints and ascetics, during their demonstration over the ahe lleged theft of offerings (chadhava) in the Parliament complex. The act amounted to insulting religious symbols of Hindu community and hurting public sentiments, the seers stated.
During the protest, Rahul and others had raised slogans and demonstrated against the alleged donation theft case at the Ayodhya Ram Mandir.
Police said investigation is underway.
None of the accused leaders nor their parties have reacted to the FIR so far.
Earlier in the day, a Delhi BJP delegation, led by MP Bansuri Swaraj, met New Delhi DCP and filed a complaint over the July 31 Parliament protest, seeking action against Rahul, Yadav and Prasad under provisions of BNS.
The BJO delegation stated that Hindu faith, Lord Ram and religious symbols were ‘mocked’ during the protest near Makar Dwar.
