The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has expressed objections to a recent visit by Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders, including Akhilesh Yadav, to the Parliament Street Mosque in Delhi. The visit took place on Tuesday, and the BJP is now planning to file an FIR against Akhilesh and his party MPs, accusing them of using a religious place for political activity.
Jamal Siddiqui, president of the BJP Minority Morcha, said, “We are going to file an FIR against Akhilesh Yadav and other SP MPs for misusing a mosque for political purposes. What shocked us even more was that Dimple Yadav was present there without fully covering herself, which we see as disrespectful to Islam.”
Mohibbullah Nadvi, the SP MP from Rampur and also the imam of the mosque, said he had invited the SP leaders inside because it was raining outside. “Many MPs come here for Friday prayers. I asked them to wait inside,” Nadvi explained.
However, some clerics associated with the BJP were upset that the meeting was held in the central prayer area of the mosque, rather than in Nadvi’s private room.
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak criticized Akhilesh Yadav, saying, “He is not a samajwadi (socialist), he is a namazwadi. He’s just playing games to get minority votes.”
Akhilesh Yadav defended the visit, saying, “I follow a religion that connects people. The BJP doesn’t want unity; they want to divide people. But we believe in respecting every religion.”
His cousin, MP Dharmendra Yadav, had shared a photo of the visit on social media. The image showed Akhilesh, Dimple Yadav, Mohibbullah Nadvi, MP Zia-ul-Rahman Barq from Sambhal, and Dharmendra himself.
Congress MP Imran Masood also spoke in support of Akhilesh. “The BJP should be ashamed of turning this into a controversy. It’s disgraceful how they are twisting something so normal, especially by targeting a woman. This is an insult to India’s culture.”
Dimple Yadav clarified that they were not holding a political meeting at the mosque. “We were discussing social issues, not politics. The BJP doesn’t want Parliament to talk about real problems like national security, so they are distracting people.”
