# SP-BJP slugfest over preacher’s deity remarks ahead of UP polls 2026-11-05T19:46:49+00:00 | Politics | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets A political row has erupted in Uttar Pradesh after a viral video showed Bageshwar Dham chief Dhirendra Krishna Shastri purportedly contrasting Lord Krishna’s posture unfavourably with Lord Ram’s. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has demanded a nationwide ban on Shastri’s public programmes, accusing him of deliberately insulting a particular community at the behest of his “political masters”. Shastri issued an apology, saying his comments were contextual and not meant to insult any deity. Posters outside the SP headquarters in Lucknow on Thursday, 5 November, labelled Shastri a ‘hypocrite, pretender and trader’, while another hoarding showed Yadav with Lord Krishna and the slogan ‘Krishna Will Come in 2027’. The BJP countered, with UP minister Manoj Pandey accusing the SP of disrespecting gods. The controversy began on 29 October during a Ram Katha programme in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri district. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The two outlets cover the story in near-identical straight-reporting style, attributing each charge to the party that made it. Hindustan Times leads with the political slugfest and includes the BJP minister’s counter-accusations and the SP spokesperson’s response. Free Press Journal leads with the poster controversy at the SP headquarters and the date of the original remarks. Neither outlet evaluates the preacher’s apology or the veracity of the viral video. The coverage is uniform: both simply report the exchange of allegations. The next concrete development to watch is the status of SP’s demand to deny permission for Shastri’s November and December events in Uttar Pradesh. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - hindustantimes.com (neutral report) Presents both parties' statements without editorialising - freepressjournal.in (neutral report) Focuses on poster controversy and quotes both sides This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Akhilesh Yadav, Bageshwar Dham, BJP, Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, Samajwadi Party, Uttar Pradesh Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/sp-bjp-slugfest-over-preachers-deity-remarks-ahead-of-up-polls/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/sp-bjp-slugfest-over-preachers-deity-remarks-ahead-of-up-polls/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/