Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, on Sunday, defended his party’s Rajya Sabha member Ramji Lal Suman over his controversial remarks in the Upper House on Mewar ruler Rana Sanga, saying that if Bharatiya Janata Party leaders can revisit history to discuss Aurangzeb, then he (Suman) has also just mentioned a page from history.

Suman sparked a controversy in the Rajya Sabha on March 21 by calling Rana Sanga a “traitor” and saying that Hindus are his descendants.

The BJP slammed Yadav for supporting Suman’s remarks, saying it was an insult to the entire Hindu community. The ruling party accused Yadav of indulging in appeasement and said his remarks reflect the “anti-Hindu” mindset of the Samajwadi Party.

During his speech in Parliament, Suman had said, “Indian Muslims do not consider Babur as their idol. They follow Prophet Muhammad and the Sufi tradition. But I want to ask, who brought Babur here? It was Rana Sanga who invited Babur to defeat Ibrahim Lodi. So, if Muslims are called the descendants of Babur, then Hindus must be the descendants of traitor Rana Sanga. We criticise Babur, but why don’t we criticise Rana Sanga?”

Rana Sanga from the Sisodia clan of Suryavanshi Rajputs was the ruler of Mewar from 1508 to 1528.

“Everyone is flipping through the pages of history. Ask BJP leaders which pages they are turning. What are they debating? They want to talk about Aurangzeb,” Yadav told reporters while replying to queries on the uproar over Suman’s remarks.

“If Ramji Lal Sumanji has referred to a page in history that contains certain facts, then what is the issue? We didn’t write history 200 years ago,” the SP chief said.

The remarks come in the backdrop of protests by BJP leaders and Hindu outfits against what they called attempts to glorify Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, alleging that he had unleashed atrocities on Hindus.

Yadav lashed out at the BJP, asking the party not to dig up historical events selectively. “If BJP continues to flip through history, people will also remember that during Chhatrapati Shivaji’s coronation, no one anointed him by hand. It is said that he was anointed using the toe of left foot. Will the BJP condemn this today?” he said.

Yadav was interacting with reporters after paying tribute to socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia on his birth anniversary.

Drawing an analogy, Yadav referred to Galileo’s persecution for his claim that the Earth revolves around the Sun. “Galileo was punished for his scientific assertion, and centuries later, the Church apologised for its mistake. If the BJP respects Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, will they apologise for the fact that he was anointed with a left foot toe?” he said.

Hitting back, BJP leader Amit Malviya said Yadav, “who indulges in appeasement, is supporting his MP Ramji Lal for calling the great warrior Rana Sanga a traitor. This is an insult not only to the Rajput community but to the entire Hindu community”

“The distorted comments being made on the Maha Kumbh were also no exception but are an indication of the petty anti-Hindu mentality of the SP, due to which the people of Uttar Pradesh have pushed the SP to the lowest rung of the state’s politics,” Malviya added.