Akhilesh Yadav Scales Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre Gate After Being Denied Entry In Lucknow. WATCH

Videos of Akhilesh Yadav arriving at the centre and climbing the main gate along with other SP leaders and workers have gone viral on social media

Dramatic scenes played out in Lucknow on Wednesday after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had to scale the main gate of Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre to pay tribute to socialist leader Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan on his birth anniversary. The Lucknow administration had reportedly denied permission to Samajwadi Party workers to enter the venue due to construction work at the centre, PTI reported.

Videos of Akhilesh Yadav arriving at the centre and climbing the main gate along with other SP leaders and workers have gone viral on social media. Chaos prevailed at the centre near Gomti Nagar in Lucknow as a huge crowd had gathered and police tried to prevent SP workers from entering the premises.

Speaking to the media after garlanding the anti-Emergency campaigner, Akhilesh Yadav lashed out at the BJP government, saying it was trying to silence "samajwadis". "They (BJP-led UP government) are trying to stop us using the police. They are trying to silence 'samajwadis' who want to do something for the country," PTI quoted the former UP CM as saying.

"The govt brought a law that for those who cause destruction to public property, the loss will be recovered from the person...Today JPNIC (Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre) is being destroyed...The govt should also compensate for it," he further said.

The JPNIC was inaugurated by Akhilesh Yadav on October 11, 2016, during his tenure as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Several leaders paid tribute to Jayaprakash Narayan, the hero of the anti-emergency movement, on his birth anniversary.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his selfless service would always inspire people. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, PM Modi said lauded Jayaprakash Narayan, also called JP, as the pioneer of "total revolution", a slogan he coined to mobilise supporters against the then Indira Gandhi-led Congress government, which imposed Emergency in 1975. "He strived his whole life to strengthen Indian democracy," PM Modi further said.

Jayaprakash Narayan was born in Bihar in 1902 and emerged as one of the leading socialist figures in the country.