Akhilesh-Ambedkar poster sparks political storm in UP

A political storm has erupted in Uttar Pradesh over a controversial poster put up outside the Samajwadi Party office in Lucknow that features half and half faces of party chief Akhilesh Yadav and BR Ambedkar.

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

BSP chief Mayawati took veiled potshots at Yadav while the BJP was staging sit-ins and protests against the poster.

The SP has since dissociated itself from the poster, but the controversy has refused to die down with rival parties demanding an apology from Yadav.

"We won't relent until the SP chief tenders apology,” said BJP cadres who staged a sit-in at the Ambedkar statue at Lucknow’s Hazratganj. Similar protests by the BJP were seen in other parts of the state.

The SP hit back at its rivals and suggested that the poster could be the work of the BJP.