WATCH | Akhilesh Yadav Climbs Wall of Jai Prakash Narayan Centre After Being Denied Entry – News18

Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday climbed over the boundary of Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC) in Lucknow to pay floral tribute to Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan on his birth anniversary.

The Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) had denied Yadav permission to enter the JPNIC, which was inaugurated by him in 2016 during his tenure as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

The former CM said the government brought the 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 government should also compensate for it,” he said.

“The Samajwadi people will continue to fight against the dictatorship of the BJP government. Honourable national president Akhilesh Yadav garlanded the statue of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan at the JPNIC,” the SP posted in Hindi. In another video, Yadav is seen showering the statue of Jayaprakash Narayan with rose petals.

Yadav told the media that he was saddened by efforts to stop them from entering the centre by deploying police. He said the officers were not ready to allow them to enter the premises and that the SP workers and leaders were clueless as to whom they should seek permission from.

Yadav said the public should know who is stopping the SP workers from paying tributes to Narayan, fondly called JP. He said the Samajwadi people used to garland his statue every year on his birth anniversary but this time they were compelled to climb the gate of the JPNIC. He recalled that ‘Netaji’ (Mualayam Singh Yadav) was there during the inauguration of the centre.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav said the BJP government has been doing injustice. “The Samajwadi Party wanted to give respect to Jayaprakash Narayan. Since the time Akhilesh Yadav has talked about alliances, the BJP has felt weak… That’s why Keshav Prasad Maurya has given such a statement… The state government wants to create an atmosphere of fear,” he said.

BJP Says Akhilesh Has No Right to Pay Tribute to JP

Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM and BJP leader Keshav Prasad Maurya said Yadav has no right to pay tribute to Jayaprakash Narayan if he is sitting in the lap of Congress. “Congress wants to end democracy in this country… It imposed an emergency and tried to weaken the roots of democracy. The Congress was uprooted at that time too, and the BJP will do it now too. Akhilesh Yadav should explain why he is sitting in Congress’s lap. .. He has no right to pay tribute to Jayaprakash Narayan if he is sitting in the lap of Congress… He is restless without power…,” he said.

Deputy CM Brijesh Pathak took a jibe at Akhilesh Yadav and said if the SP chief knows how to jump so well then he should have taken part in the Asian Games and won some medals for the country. “They always break the law. If the SP chief knows how to jump so well then he should have taken part in the Asian Games and won some medals for the country,” he said.

(With ANI, PTI inputs)