President of Sarva Brahmin Mahasabha Suresh Mishra has filed a petition in a lower court here seeking permission to file an FIR against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for calling Lord Hanuman a Dalit Tribal.

Mishra accused Adityanath of hurting the sentiments of Hindus by making the statement at an election rally in Rajasthan.

Mishra said the petition had been filed under Sections 295 (Injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class), 295(A) (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 298 (Uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person) of the Indian Penal Code. The court shall hear the case on December 11.

Earlier, the Mahasabha has demanded an apology from the Chief Minister and threatened legal action if he did not apologise in three days.

This controversy comes shortly after Yogi Adityanath said if the BJP was voted into power it would rename to city of Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar. The BJP leader was speaking at a rally in Goshamahal constituency in the city on Sunday, along with incumbent party MLA Raja Singh.   

Raja Singh, known for making provocative statements, has repeatedly been booked for hate speech and inciting communal violence by the police and is the sitting MLA from Goshamahal up for reelection.

“If you want to see Hyderabad transform itself into Bhagyanagar, then you should give BJP a chance,” he said. Accusing other parties of engaging in vote bank politics and claiming that the BJP is the only party that focuses on good governance and development, Yogi said, “Raja Singh has represented your issues forcefully in the past four years. Now, it is time to vote him back as an MLA.”