Lucknow, Jan 14 : Knives are out in the Samajwadi Party or senior leader Swami Prasad Maurya, who has been making a series of controversial statements on Hindu religion. From demanding deletion of verses from Ramcharitmanas to justifying the firing on 'kar sevaks' in Ayodhya, his statements have been irking Hindu legislators, particularly those belonging to the upper castes, in Samajwadi Party (SP). Last week, at a party meeting, legislators had raised the issue before party president Akhilesh Yadav and the latter had assured them that Swami Prasad Maurya had been asked to refrain from commenting on religious issues. However, a day after this, Maurya made the comment on 'kar sevaks', terming them as "anti-social elements." Senior SP MLAs, Rakesh Pratap Singh and Samarpal Singh have now asked the party leadership to take action against Maurya. Rakesh Pratap Singh, in fact, went to Ayodhya to offer prayers and met the Trust office bearer Champat Rai last week. Another SP MLA from the Brahmin community said: 'It appears that Maurya is working at the behest of some vested interests who want to damage the Samajwadi Pretty in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He never uttered a word on these issues when he was minister in the Yogi Adityanath government." The legislator said that Akhilesh's silence on Maurya's behaviour was a major irritant and "self-respecting Hindus" wanted the party leadership to clarify on the issue. Interestingly, Swami Prasad Maurya has not yet found any support for his statements from OBC leaders within SP and even his former colleagues from the Bahujan Samaj Party have clearly distanced themselves from him. BJP is using Maurya's stand against Hindus to target Samajwadi Party. 'Swami Prasad Maurya is speaking whatever Akhilesh Yadav tells him to. If Maurya is making these statements on his own, what is preventing Akhilesh Yadav from removing him from the post of party general secretary'? asked Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya. The Congress, too, is upset with Swami Prasad Maurya's remarks. A senior leader who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: 'This is a crucial time with the Ram temple all set to open. No one wants to be seen as anti-Hindu and Maurya's tirade is bound to send the wrong messages. Akhilesh Yadav to take steps to check this because his voters are also Hindu.' /IANS