Defiant Akhilesh garlands JP Narayan's bust on road following fresh face-off with UP govt

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh and the Samajwadi Party (SP) have locked horns in a fresh political row over Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC) in Lucknow, which has a museum dedicated to the memory of the iconic socialist leader and politician.

The row erupted late on Thursday night after Yadav was refused permission to visit the JPNIC due to the “ongoing construction work”.

Entrances to the JPNIC were barricaded by tin sheets on Thursday night, prompting the SP to mount a scathing attack on the BJP. Moreover, those barricades were reinforced on Friday morning by scores of cops just ahead of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's plans to garland a JP Narayan statue inside the JPNIC on his birth anniversary.

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Subsequently, Yadav on Friday garlanded a bust of Jayaprakash Narayan mounted atop a vehicle outside his residence where hundreds of party workers had gathered after authorities blocked his visit to the JP International Centre citing security concerns.

Scores flock to Yadav's residence

In the morning, he slammed the BJP government in the state for putting up barricades near his house on Vikramaditya Marg in Lucknow to prevent 'Samajwadis' from visiting the site and garlanding JP Narayan's statue on his birth anniversary.

SP workers had assembled outside Yadav's residence as ambiguity remained over Yadav's scheduled visit to the Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC).

At around 10.30 am, a bust of Narayan, mounted on a vehicle, was garlanded by Yadav on the road packed with SP workers, several of them donning red caps and raising slogans and party flags.

"On the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Narayanji, we visit the JPNIC museum to celebrate the occasion. What does the government want to hide by blocking the gate with tin sheets? A museum was built here... we want to pay tribute to a great man... a socialist thinker. Why is the government doing this?”

"Today, standing on the road, we are paying tributes to the 'Jan Nayak'. This government wants to stop us from garlanding but we have done it here on the road itself," he told the gathering.

Shares video clips on social media

Yadav took to social media and shared video clips and pictures of the deployment of security personnel, including police and rapid action force, with barricades near his house here, a stone's throw away from the Samajwadi Party headquarters.

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"Whether it is the BJP people or their government, their every action is a symbol of negativity. To prevent the Samajwadi people from garlanding the statue of JP Narayan Ji on his birth anniversary like last time, barricades have been put up around our private residence to stop them," he posted on X in Hindi.

The SP chief accused the BJP of creating hurdles in the path of harmony, peace, reservation, farmers' welfare, women's safety, youth development, employment generation, and development of PDAs (pichhde, Dalit, alpsankhyak).

Last year, too, Yadav had to climb over the gate of the JPNIC to garland the statue of JP Narayan that was installed on the premises by the SP government led by him.

Asks Nitish to withdraw support

Yadav also appealed to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to withdraw support to the NDA, saying the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh stopped 'Samajwadis' from paying tributes to Narayan, a socialist ideologue, and asserting that the JD(U) chief owes his political emergence to the JP movement.

The Samajwadi Party chief also said that bamboo barricades would not have been able to stop SP workers from visiting the JPNIC if these were not festive days.

Yadav had reached the JPNIC on Thursday night and lambasted the Yogi Adityanath government for blocking its main gate with tin sheets apparently to prevent entry.

Alleges conspiracy to sell JPNIC

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister alleged that the memorial at JPNIC is under covers because of a "conspiracy to sell it".

"Imagine, there is a government which wants to sell a museum," he said.

Earlier, the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) told Yadav that his planned visit to the Centre was “not advisable” as it cited security concerns due to the ongoing construction work at the site.

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In a letter referencing their correspondence dated October 8, the LDA noted that Yadav, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh who is accorded Z-plus security, intended to pay homage to the statue located at the convention centre. “The site has not been found suitable for garlanding/visiting from the security point of view of Akhilesh Yadav, former chief minister, who has Z-Plus security,” the LDA said in its letter dated October 10.

BJP’s counter attack at Akhilesh

Hitting back at the SP chief, the BJP's UP unit spokesperson, Alok Awasthi, insisted the party "respects and honours all the great men", and hailed Jayaprakash Narayan as a "symbol of simplicity"

“Akhilesh Yadav, do you have even one quality of Jai Prakash Narayan? You enjoy a luxurious life. During your reign, anarchy, hooliganism, misgovernance, rioters and corrupt people prevailed. Your conduct has been contrary to the thoughts of Jayaprakashji and Lohiaji.”

(With agency inputs)