In a bid to counter the BJP's Hindutva plank and also to woo the influential Brahmin community in Uttar Pradesh, the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) has decided to embrace 'Parashuram', one the most important Brahmin icons.
SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav has announced that his party will install a 108-foot-high statue of 'Bhagwan Parashuram' in the capital city of Lucknow.
According to the SP sources here, the party has been trying to identify land along the Lucknow-Agra Expressway or the road leading to Ayodhya for the purpose of installing the statue.
Sources said that former UP minister and Brahmin leader Abhishek Mishra had been entrusted with the responsibility of identifying the land.
''We expect the spot to be finalised in the next few weeks....the statue will be ready well before the next assembly polls in the state due in 2022,'' said a senior SP leader here while speaking to DH.
The statue, however, would be installed by a little-known outfit named 'Parashuram Chetna Peeth'. The outfit was backed by the SP, sources said.
The SP's decision to install the statue of one of the icons of the Brahmin community triggered sharp reactions from the rival opposition parties and also the BJP.
BSP supremo Mayawati slammed Akhilesh for what she termed ''caste politics'' and declared that her party would build hospitals and dharmshalas and also construct a statue of Parashuram if voted to power in 2022.
BJP Brahmin leaders also attacked Akhilesh and said that the latter never gave due respect to the community when the SP was in power in the state.
The Congress was also trying to woo the Brahmins by taking up the issue of their alleged 'persecution' in the current dispensation.
Interestingly, Parashuram was also, like Lord Rama, a reincarnation of Lord Vishnu but was a Brahmin while Rama was a Kshatriya. According to Hindu mythology, Parashuram, a disciple of Lord Shiva, had killed many Kshatriya warriors.