Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for barricading the Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC) and not allowing him to pay tributes to the socialist leader on his birth anniversary. Yadav charged the Yogi Adityanath government is planning to sell the museum built to commemorate JP Narayan.
Barricades have been set up and police have been deployed outside Yadav’s residence and at JPNIC to block Samajwadi Party members from entering the premises. On Thursday night, Yadav visited JPNIC and slammed the state government for barricading the gates with tin sheets in the name of construction. The Lucknow Development Authority has advised Yadav not to visit JPNIC considering security reasons.
Addressing presspersons, Yadav said, “This govt is trying to stop us from garlanding JP Narayan, but we did it on the road. They are conspiring to sell this museum and hence they have covered JPNIC. Just think, how will the government which is trying to sell the museum built to respect Jai Prakash Narayan will protect the Constitution? This government is dumb, deaf and blind,” ANI reported.
The Lucknow Development Authority, in a letter to Yadav, said, “The construction material is kept in an unplanned manner and due to the rainy season there is a possibility of the presence of unwanted living creatures. 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."
Last year, Yadav climbed 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.