Amid protests against Samajwadi Party (SP) Rajya Sabha MP Ramji Lal Suman’s recent remarks on Rajput king Rana Sanga in Uttar Pradesh, party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday vowed to stand with the MP and pushed for broader unity of communities under the SP’s PDA (Pichda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) plank.

Mr. Yadav asserted this after unveiling Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s statue in Etawah as part of the party’s Ambedkar Jayanti Swabhiman Swaman Samaroh.

“By installing the statue of Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, the entire PDA family is given the opportunity to act together. All of us in the PDA family must take a pledge that no matter how courageous or powerful someone becomes, we will not let Babasaheb’s Constitution change. If anyone insults our Ramji Lal Sumanji, our worker, we Samajwadi people will stand with them, will fight for their honour,” said Mr. Yadav.

Roughly 125 km away in Agra, members of over 40 Kshatriya groups, including the Karni Sena, held a ‘Rakt Swabhiman’ conference demanding an apology from the MP for his remarks on the 16th-century king. Mr. Yadav said: “This is all fake, all of them are BJP people.”

“I can imagine that if we can be treated like this then who knows how the people of our Bahujan Samaj would be treated? Our reservation is being taken away, we are not being given a chance to move forward. By joining the PDA communities, we will work to take us along with 90% of the population,” the SP president said. He accused the BJP of supporting anti-social groups and creating unrest in the country.

The Karni Sena demonstration, on the occasion of Rana Sanga Jayanti in Garhi Rami village, was attended by participants from Agra, Mainpuri, Etah, Firozabad, Kasganj, Mathura, Aligarh and adjoining districts. Visuals of men on motorbikes and cars, openly carrying swords and sticks emerged on social media.

“We held a protest demanding apology from the MP, no one has the right to disrespect our idol who is a brave son of mother India,” said Shashank Rajput, a Karni Sena sympathiser.

Security has been stepped up at Mr. Suman’s house in Agra, which recently came under attack by the Karni Sena, with the deployment of personnel from the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and the Rapid Action Force (RAF).

The BJP condemned the SP president for making divisive comments, allegedly to divide the society. “The divisive statements with aim to create social unrest by SP supremo are not just objectionable but need to be condemned by every sane voice for peace and prosperity in the State. Polarising society to meet narrow political ends has become the order of the day for the SP. No individual or organisation can take law and order into their own hands and will be dealt strictly with,” said Pushkar Mishra, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Uttar Pradesh.

Mr. Suman, a Rajya Sabha member on March 21 said: “Indian Muslims do not consider Babur their idol. They follow Prophet Muhammad and the Sufi tradition. But I want to ask, who brought Babur. It was Rana Sanga who invited Babur to defeat Ibrahim Lodi. So, if Muslims are called the descendants of Babur, then you [hinting at the other side] must be the descendants of traitor Rana Sanga,”.

The statement created a storm with Karni Sena members trying to create ruckus at his Agra residence on March 27.