A shoe was thrown at senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Swami Prasad Maurya during a party event in Lucknow. The incident took place at the SP’s one-day ‘mahasammelan’ at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan. The shoe did not reach Maurya as party workers overpowered the alleged assailant, Akash Saini, who was dressed as a lawyer. The accused has been taken to a hospital and further details will be known after questioning him, according to Assistant Commissioner of Police (Lucknow) Aniandy Vikram Singh. Party president Akhilesh Yadav was scheduled to address the event but had not reached the venue at the time of the incident.
Maurya, a prominent OBC leader in Uttar Pradesh who had defected to the SP from the BJP just before the 2022 assembly elections, has been in the thick of a controversy over his remarks on the Ramcharitmanas and Hindu temples.
