Police stops Akhilesh's march towards UP assembly

Police on Monday stopped the protest march taken out by the Samajwadi Party highlighting the issues in Uttar Pradesh before the monsoon session of the state legislature.

As the SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, legislators and other party workers started moving towards the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Bhavan from the party office located on Vikramaditya Marg, police stopped them near Vikramaditya Marg crossing.

Following this Yadav and the other party leaders sat on a dharna there.

During the march, the party MLAs and MLCs will raise issues of unemployment, price rise, crime against women and poor law and order situation in the state, the SP's chief spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said here on Sunday.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Piyush Mordia told PTI that the SP leaders were stopped near Vikramaditya Marg crossing. No arrests have been made so far in this regard, Mordia said.

He said the party was given a route to take out their march but they did not opt for that route and went on another route, following which they were stopped.

Mordia said the party workers were stopped, so that the common public does not face any inconvenience and there is no law and order problem.

In view of the march, barricades were put up on Vikramaditya Marg by the police and the public was not allowed to use the road.

The SP chief reached the party office at around 10 am from where he along with other legislators and party workers started marching towards the Vidhan Bhavan.

The party's planned protest at the Legislative Assembly against inflation, unemployment, and the law-and-order situation in the state could not begin on September 14 as police stopped its leaders from reaching the spot.

Police personnel were stationed outside the SP office and the residences of its leaders in Lucknow hours before the scheduled protest.

Heavy police deployment was also visible near the Legislative Assembly in Hazratganj.

The protest was scheduled to start in front of the statue of former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh on the Assembly premises.

The police personnel deployed outside the SP office stopped the party's leaders from reaching the Legislative Assembly for the protest. They were instead taken to Eco-Garden.