Akhilesh Yadav Apologises To Shankaracharya For A Lathi Charge On Seers Six Years Ago, Says It Was A 'Mistake': Report

Former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and leader of Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav has apologised to Hindu seers for a "mistake" committed during his regime.

His government had ordered a lathi charge on seers in Varanasi in 2015 during a Ganesh visarjan programme.

A report mentions that Yadav apologised to Shankaracharya, accepting the mistake that had been committed when he was serving as the chief minister of UP.

On 11 April, Yadav met Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati and Swami Avimukteshwaranand and sought their blessings.

Swami Avimukteshwaranand along with other seers was protesting against the government stonewalling the visarjan of Ganesh idols in Ganga.

The police resorted to lathi charge to remove the seers from the Ganga banks. Swami Avimukteshwaranand and several other seers were injured in the process.

The local administration reportedly had instructed the seers to perform the visarjan in a pond instead. The incident had led to protests from locals.

Yadav spoke to the media in Haridwar and said that he was 'impressed' by the statements of the two seers on the plight of farmers of the country and this led him to seek their blessings.