New Delhi: Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Swami Prasad Maurya faced a ‘shoe attack’ at a party event in Lucknow on Monday, while he was addressing his supporters. A man dressed in lawyer clothing hurled shoe at the SP leader while one-day long OBC Sammelan was underway at Lucknow’s Indira Gandhi Pratishthan. The shoe attacker was identified as Akash Saini, however the motive behind his action is yet to be known. Maurya was unscathed as the shoe didn’t reach upto him but the man who hurled it did have a harrowing time. The SP leader’s supporters pounced on him and beat him black & blue. A coupled of them kicked him while others blew punches at him. SP workers & supporters also chanted 'Swami Prasad Maurya Zindabad' while slapping and kicking the man. VIDEO | A man dressed up as an advocate hurls shoe at Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya in Lucknow. The attacker was later roughed up by Maurya's supporters. More details are awaited. pic.twitter.com/OQCU5G3xVE — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 21, 2023 The assailant couldn’t withstand the merciless beating by Maurya’s supporters and reportedly fainted at the spot. Policemen tried to intervene but could control the violent crowd only after sometime. "The accused was taken to hospital. Further details will be known after probing him," Assistant Commissioner of Police (Lucknow) Aniandy Vikram Singh told a news agency. According to reports, the SP event was to attended by party president Akhilesh Yadav also, later in the day. For the unversed, Swami Prasad Maurya is a prominent OBC leader in Uttar Pradesh who switched over from BJP to SP before the 2022 Assembly elections. The SP leader has repeatedly found himself in the thick of controversy over his disrespectful & disdainful remarks on Hindu scripture Ramcharitmanas and also Hindu temples.
