Yogi Adityanath's offer to SP amid row over Aurangzeb remarks: 'Send Abu Azmi to UP, will ensure proper treatment'

Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. (File/PTI)

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday slammed Maharashtra MLA Abu Asim Azmi over the latter's praise for Mughal ruler Aurangzeb and asked the Samajwadi Party to explain why continues to harbor such leaders in its party.

Speaking in the UP legislative council during a discussion on the UP Budget, Adityanath questioned the SP over the remarks by Azmi and asked why he has not been removed from the party yet.

"A person who feels shame instead of taking pride in the legacy of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and considers Aurangzeb as his hero...should he have the right to stay in India? The Samajwadi Party should answer this. On one hand you defame the Maha Kumbh and on the other, glorify a cruel ruler who destroyed temples and attacked the very soul of India's cultural heritage," CM Adityanath said.

Abu Azmi, a Samajwadi Party legislator from Maharashtra, was on Wednesday suspended from the Maharashtra Assembly for the remainder of the session over his praise of Aurangzeb. Azmi had referred to Aurangzeb as a just ruler who constructed temples and claimed that India came to be known as 'Sone ki Chidiya' during the Mughal emperor's reign.

"The conflicts during Aurangzeb's time were political, not religious or Hindu-Muslim battles. Aurangzeb oversaw the construction of several Hindu temples," Azmi said and accused historians of misrepresenting the Mughal-era ruler.

Reacting to the remarks by the SP leader, CM Adityanath said, "If you cannot expel him, send him to Uttar Pradesh. We will get him treated properly. Uttar Pradesh does not take too long in giving such people a proper treatment."

"What is your compulsion that you cannot control an MLA of yours? Samajwadi Party should condemn these remarks and expel the MLA," he further asked.