Lucknow, March 20: Uttar Pradesh's ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) Tuesday found itself at the receiving end of salvos from opposition parties when Revenue Minister Ambika Chowdhary compared the party manifesto to religious scriptures.
The minister, during a debate in the legislative council , said the party's poll manifesto was akin to religious scriptures like the Quran and the Bhagavat Gita.
He also charged that a party that ruled the state for 37 years had hoodwinked the people of the state in the name of its manifesto and that the SP was the first party which was fulfilling the promises made to the people of the state.
This infuriated the Congress members who walked out of the house, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) members came towards the speaker's podium shouting slogans against the minister and the state government.
The minister made this statement while responding to a query by BSP member Ram Chandra Pradhan on inclusion of 157 castes into the list of Scheduled Castes.
Congress legislator Naseeb Pathan objected to this statement and the comparison to religious scriptures, and other members of the opposition asked the chair to expunge the minister's statement. The chair later adjourned the house briefly.
