Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Keshav Prasad Maurya has lost from Sirathu constituency against Samajwadi Party’s Dr. Pallavi Patel by a margin of 7,337 votes.
Maurya, who is known for hate speeches against Muslims, accepted his defeat and thanked the voters and BJP workers of the constituency.
Keshav Prasad Maurya is the RSS-BJP’s home-grown Maurya face, groomed in Hindutva as part of the party’s OBC project to appeal to non-Yadav backward class communities.
During the campaign, Maurya had said the poor law and order situation in the state earlier was due to people in “skull caps who threatened traders”, among others.
“Before 2017, how many lungi-clad goons used to roam here? Who in skull caps used to threaten the traders while carrying guns? Who used to encroach upon your land and threaten you to not go to Police? Remember all this,” Maurya had said at a meeting of traders in Allahabad.
Lungi and skull caps, commonly known as topi are parts of the attire worn by Muslim men in the state.
The senior BJP leader also had called for the construction of a temple in Mathura at a time when Hindutva groups are demanding the removal of a Mughal-era mosque located adjacent to the Krishna temple in the city.
Maurya’s tweets had an uncanny semblance to the slogan “Ayodhya Toh Sirf Jhanki Hai, Kashi Mathura Baki Hai” (Ayodhya is a mere trailer, Kashi and Mathura are still left) raised by BJP leaders following the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
“Ayodhya, Kashi bhavya mandir jari hain, Mathura ki tayarri hai” (A grand temple is underway in Ayodhya and Varanasi. Preparations are on for Mathura), Maurya said.
