Akhilesh Yadav Slams BJP For 'Blocking' Entry To Jayaprakash Narayan Centre During Late Night Visit

Akhilesh Yadav criticized the BJP government for blocking entry to the Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre, alleging a cover-up.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party government on Thursday for "blocking" the entrance gate of the Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC) in Lucknow.

He also reached the JPNIC after the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) refused to grant him permission to visit the site on Friday for the freedom fighter's birth anniversary. 

Citing security concerns, the LDA mentioned that the centre is a construction site with materials spread haphazardly and potential insect infestations due to rain. "JPNIC is a construction site where construction material is spread haphazardly, and there is a possibility of many insects due to rain," the LDA said.

The development authority also noted that the Kannauj MP has Z-plus category security, making it unsafe for him to garland the statue and visit the site. 

Despite the notice, Yadav visited the centre on Thursday evening and criticised the Uttar Pradesh government for blocking the entrance with tin sheets. He alleged that a wall was erected to stop him and others from paying tribute to Jayaprakash Narayan on his birth anniversary. 

"The government wants to hide something by building this tin boundary. Why are they not letting us honour a great leader," questioned the former Chief Minister. 

"This is not happening for the first time. Every year on Jayaprakash Narayan Jayanti the workers and leader of SP used to gather and pay their respects to him...Why does the government want to hide?... This is not under construction, this will be sold...," he added. 

Taking to his X account, he further trained guns saying: "This is the ostentatious Amritkal of freedom under BJP rule. A wall was raised so that people could not pay tribute. The path that the BJP has closed is a symbol of their closed thinking." 

Jayaprakash Narayan formed the first non-Congress government in the country by uniting the entire Opposition during the Emergency. He is remembered for leading a rainbow coalition of Opposition parties in the mid-1970s, calling for 'Sampoorna Kranti' (total revolution) against the then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.