Himanshu Awasthi, a self proclaimed “nationalist” who is accused of beating up two Kashmiri Muslim vendors in Lucknow, reportedly met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the latter’s official residence in Lucknow on June 4, 2019.

Awasthi posted a picture of the meeting on his Facebook profile.

Present in the meeting with him was Bal Yogeshwar, a cousin of former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He said that he congratulated CM Adityanath on BJP’s recent poll victory.

Moreover, Awasthi claimed that he is scheduled to meet PM Modi at the PM’s official residence in Delhi — 7 Race Course Road.

Awasthi was seen thrashing two Kashmiri dry fruits sellers in Lucknow, in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack. A video of the hate crime had gone viral.

SHOCKING: Some goons in saffron kurtas throttle, assault a Kashmiri dry fruit seller in Lucknow. Passersby come to rescue of the Kashmiri. Case yet to be registered. Hope @Uppolice @Igrangelucknow @lkopolice register an FIR and jab these goondas at the earliest. pic.twitter.com/zXjI3Anh2n — Prashant Kumar (@scribe_prashant) March 6, 2019

Also Read: Lucknow: Passer-by Comes to The Rescue of Kashmiri Vendor Being Attacked By Saffron-Clad Goons (Watch)

Following this, while Awasthi had claimed to be a former BJP member, the party had distanced itself from him. At the time, his Facebook profile said that he was a member of the Vishwa Hindu Dal.

This is not the first time that those accused of hate crimes have been seen hobnobbing with the BJP top brass. Last year, former union minister and current BJP MP Jayant Sinha had garlanded eight men who had been convicted in the Ramgarh lynching case. Former Union Minister Mahesh Sharma had attended the funeral of a Dadri lynching accused and had even announced monetary aid to his family. Similarly, other men accused of lynching Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri were spotted sitting in the front row of CM Adityanath’s campaign rally.