India, Nov. 5 -- LUCKNOW A fresh political slugfest has erupted in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections following controversial remarks by Bageshwar Dham chief Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, prompting Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav to demand a nationwide ban on the preacher's public programmes.

The row stems from a viral video in which Shastri purportedly contrasted Lord Krishna's flute-playing 'tribhanga' posture unfavourably with Lord Ram's upright stance. Although Shastri later issued an apology stating his comments were contextual and not meant to insult any deity, the SP chief rejected the clarification, accusing the preacher of deliberately hurting religious sentiments at the behest of his "political master...