Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday night reached Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC) and lambasted the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government for barring its main gate behind tin sheets to prevent entry.
It is the birth anniversary of the socialist leader on October 11. The Centre contains a museum dedicated to the memory of the leader. Last year, Yadav had to climb over the gate of JPNIC in Gomti Nagar to garland a statue of Jai Prakash Narayan located in the premises.
“This JPNIC, the museum of socialists, statue of Jayaprakash Narayan and there are things inside on how we can understand socialism,” Akhilesh Yadav told reporters outside the Centre.
“What is the government hiding by erecting these tin sheds. Is it possible that they are getting ready to sell it, or want to give it to someone?” he added, PTI reported.
Asked if he would come to the centre tomorrow to pay his tributes to the Emergency crusader, Yadav said, “We will decide the programme tomorrow. For how long they will keep it barred behind tin sheds.”
Entrances to the JPNIC were barricaded by tin sheets on Thursday night – prompting the SP to launch an all-out attack on the BJP – and those barricades were reinforced this morning by scores of cops. This comes ahead of plans to garland a statue of JP Narayan – inside the JPNIC – on his birth anniversary.
The SP chief also shared videos claiming police barriers outside the SP office.
“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 Jayaprakash Narayanji on his birth anniversary, like the last time, barricades have been put up around our private residence,” Yadav said on X.
Earier in a post on X, the SP president derided the BJP’s rule as “ostentatious Amritkal of freedom” and termed the closure a symbol of the party’s “closed thinking.”
“BJP holds ill-will and animosity towards every freedom fighter like Jayaprakash Narayan ji, who participated in the freedom struggle of the country.
“It is the guilt inside the BJP, whose members did not participate in the freedom struggle of the country, which does not allow them to pay tribute to the revolutionaries even on their birth anniversaries. Condemnable!” he said.
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The response to his criticism was sharp. 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”.
“Mr 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 Jayaprakash Ji and Lohia Ji,” Awasthi added.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) on social media also shared a video showing some workers erecting tin sheets before the main gate of the JPNIC and condemned the action.
“The useless BJP government is constantly attacking democracy!” it said in a post on X. The party termed the barring an instance of “dirty politics” of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“This anti-people government has insulted great men by ruining development work like JPNIC built in Lucknow. Socialists will not bow down to these dictators!” it said.
Amid the row, Lucknow Police announced traffic restrictions around the building for Friday, PTI reported.
Interesting, the JPNIC, where the SP chief has been barred to enter, was inaugurated by Yadav in 2016 during his tenure as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Work on the building, however, was stopped after BJP came to power in the state in 2017.
The building, among other structures, houses the Jayaprakash Narayan Interpretation Centre, a museum.
(With inputs from PTI)