Akhilesh Yadav stirs controversy, says no martyrs from Gujarat

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday stirred controversy with his remarks that while there were martyrs from states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and south India there were "no martyrs from Gujarat".

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also raised questions over the central government's response to the mutilation of the bodies of two soldiers on the Line of Control (LoC) by the Pakistan Army earlier this month.

"The Pakistani soldiers beheaded Indian soldiers, they mutilated their bodies so badly. No one is debating or discussing that. You didn't tell which body parts were mutilated, you are not debating on that. We have seen martyrs from Bihar, UP, MP, Jharkhand and south Indian states. But why no martyrs from Gujarat?" Yadav said.

Gujarat is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah.

Akhilesh accused Modi of doing "politics over martyrs, Vande Mataram and nationalism".

In February, the Samajwadi Party leader had stirred a controversy just before the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, when he took a pot shot at Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachhan and advised him to stop promoting the "donkeys of Gujarat".