Ballia (UP): Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya on Sunday alleged that the BJP won the recent state elections and in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls due to the “misuse” of electronic voting machines (EVMs) Attacking the ruling party, he said that the people “who beat the drum of Sanatan Dharma do not understand the meaning of the word and are anti-Sanatan”.

Maurya, who quit the BJP in January last year and is now the SP’s national general secretary, was talking to reporters on the sidelines of the Buddhist conference in the Rasra area of the district.

“Had EVM not been misused in UP assembly polls in 2022, BJP would have been wiped out from the state,” he claimed Replying to another query, Maurya said, “The people who beat the drum of Sanatan Dharma do not understand the meaning of the word. Sanatan Dharma is a word coming from the mouth of Lord Buddha.

“While giving the message to his disciples, at the end he told them that whatever he was saying is Sanatan Dharma….

“They (those who talk of Sanatan) just copy. There is a lot of difference between their Sanatan and the real Sanatan,” he said.

“The sun gives light to everyone. It does not discriminate between Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians in giving its light and does not discriminate between Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. “Similarly, air, water and fire provide their power equally to everyone. This is Sanatan,” he said and added that he was himself a “great Sanatani”. On the disputes in Kashi and Mathura, Maurya alleged that some religious organisations were trying to vitiate the atmosphere by raising these issues.

Asked about the role of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Uttar Pradesh, the SP leader said that Kumar is the architect of opposition unity.

“He is the one who initiated the INDIA alliance. If he plays an active role then it is welcome,” he said.

When asked about BSP chief Mayawati joining the ‘INDIA’ bloc, he said, “Mayawati herself will decide about joining the alliance.”