Defiant Akhilesh garlands JP bust on road, urges Nitish to exit NDA

After authorities advised him not to visit the JP International Centre in Lucknow citing security concerns, a defiant Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav Friday garlanded a bust of Jayaprakash Narayan mounted atop a vehicle outside his residence where hundreds of party workers had gathered.

JP, as the late socialist ideologue and fierce critic of the Emergency was known, has emerged as the latest centre of the tussle between the ruling BJP and the opposition party. Friday was the late socialist leader's birth anniversary.

Yadav also appealed to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to withdraw support to the National Democratic Alliance, saying the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh stopped 'Samajwadis' from paying tributes to Narayan and asserting that the Janata Dal-United chief owes his political emergence to the JP movement.

In the morning, Yadav slammed the BJP government in the state for putting up barricades near his house on Vikramaditya Marg here and alleged that it was done to prevent 'Samajwadis' from visiting the site and garlanding Narayan's statue on his birth anniversary.

Samajwadi Party workers had assembled outside Yadav's residence as ambiguity remained over Yadav's scheduled visit to the Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre.

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 Narayan ji, we go to the JPNIC museum to celebrate. But I don't know why this government stops us. This blockade by the BJP is not the first. It has blocked all good work," Yadav said.

"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.

The SP chief also said bamboo barricades would not have been able to stop the workers from visiting JPNIC if it was not a festival day.

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

"The people of BJP are destructive. Give them anything good and they will destroy it. They stopped us Samajwadi people in the past also but since this is the 9th day of Navratri, think about the 'adharm' they are doing on a day of the festival," Yadav said.

He noted that there are several "socialist people" who are part of the government and involved in running the system.

"The chief minister of Bihar (Nitish Kumar) also keeps talking about Jayaprakash Narayan ji from time to time, in fact, he has emerged (as a politician) from JP's movement itself. This is a chance that he has got to withdraw support from a government which is stopping Samajwadis from remembering Jayaprakash on his anniversary," Yadav said.

He said Kumar had added power to the JP's movement.

"Samajwadis have given respect to him (JP) and will continue to do so," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister added.

He 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.

Later, on Friday afternoon, Yadav continued his attack on the BJP as he took to social media where he shared a 3.15 minutes-long video of JPNIC, the museum-memorial dedicated to the socialist leader.

"The socialists built memorials in honour of Loknayak, while the BJP only created obstacles. This is the difference between a positive and a negative mindset," he posted along with the video.

Earlier, the Lucknow Development Authority informed Yadav that his planned visit to the JP centre was "not advisable" as it cited security concerns due to the ongoing construction work at the site.

In a letter referencing their correspondence dated October 8, the LDA noted that Yadav who is accorded Z-plus security intended to pay homage to the statue located at the convention centre.

"It is to be informed that the Engineering Department, Lucknow Development Authority has provided a report regarding the updated status of the work site, in which the JP Narayan Convention Centre project is still under construction.

"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," the LDA said in its letter dated October 10.

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.

"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).

"The BJP has always been against freedom fighters and the freedom movement. They have learnt from the colonial powers and supported them secretly. Everyone is saying today that they don't want the BJP," Yadav said.

Senior Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Singh Yadav also hit out at the state government over the issue.

"The BJP, intoxicated with power, wants to barricade democracy. The system of power can never prevail over the system of the people. Government, learn a lesson from the past! Dictatorship does not last long in a democracy," he posted on X along with videos of security deployment.

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