The Mumbai Police has registered a first information report against Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi for allegedly making remarks praising the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday.

On Monday, the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar MLA said that he did not consider Aurangzeb to be a cruel ruler.

“Wrong history is being shown,” he said to reporters. “Aurangzeb built many temples. I do not consider him a cruel ruler.”

This sparked a controversy, prompting Azmi to retract his statement. He stated that his comment was blown out of proportion and that he did not intend to insult anyone.

“When I quoted a historian’s book about Aurangzeb, I never spoke ill of any of our great men,” he said in a video posted on social media. “But if my statements, which have been distorted, have offended anyone, I take them back. The Assembly has important work to do and it should not be disrupted over this issue.”

He also said that his initial statement was in response to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma drawing a comparison between Aurangzeb and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday.

The complaint against Azmi was filed by Shiv Sena MP Naresh Ganpat, who claimed that the Samajwadi Party MLA’s comments had hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus by turning a blind eye to the Mughal ruler’s acts of oppression.

“He has no right to stay in India,” Ganpat was quoted as saying by ANI. “Aurangzeb destroyed thousands of Hindu temples, tortured women and brutally persecuted Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. He was against the country and looted our nation.”

The FIR was registered at the Waghle East Estate Police Station under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to outraging religious feelings (section 299), insulting religious beliefs (302) and defamation (356), The Times of India reported.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has sought that a case of sedition be filed against Azmi.

On Tuesday, leaders of the Mahayuti alliance, comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena group led by Shinde and the Nationalist Congress Party group led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, protested against Azmi’s remarks outside the Assembly.

On Monday, Azmi defended his remarks, stating that there was “no need to give Hindu-Muslim angles to it”.

“This country will run by the Constitution and I have not said a word against Hindu brothers,” he said.