Lucknow : Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday accused the ruling BJP of not granting permission to socialists to pay tribute to Jai Prakash Narayan on his birth anniversary.
He also urged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to withdraw his party's support from the BJP-led central government on this matter. His statement came after the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) refused to grant him permission to visit Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC) here on the freedom fighter's birth anniversary. The LDA said that JPNIC is an active construction site with scattered materials that can be hazardous.
"Many of the Socialist people are in the government and helping the government to continue. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar emerged from his (Jai Prakash Narayan) movement. This is a chance for Nitish Kumar to withdraw support from the government which is not allowing the Socialist to pay tribute to Jai Prakash Narayan on his birth anniversary," Akhilesh Yadav told reporters.
The SP chief garlanded a statue of Jai Prakash Narayan on a road outside the JPNIC. He alleged that the UP government is trying to sell the JPNIC. "We celebrate his (Jai Prakash Narayan) birth anniversary...This government is trying to stop us from garlanding him, but we did it on the road. They are conspiring to sell this museum and hence they have covered JPNIC," he alleged.
"Just think that the government which is trying to sell the museum built to respect Jai Prakash Narayan, how can you expect that they will protect the Constitution? By when the police will be present, when they will go we will celebrate his birth anniversary right here..This government is dumb, deaf and blind. Today is Ramnavami, and look what kind of Adharm they are committing today. If it wouldn't have been a festival today, these barricades couldn't have stopped Samajwadis," he added.
Akhilesh Yadav said that if there is any security concern, they should have allowed him with security. "BJP has a line of destruction in its hands. Destructive expressions can be seen on their faces. They are destructive people. How can you expect from the CM that he will respect the great personalities? What does he know about Jai Prakash Narayan and his contribution? If he had known about his (Jai Prakash Narayan) contribution, the force that is being deployed here to stop us, the same force would have facilitated us to pay tribute - this force shouldn't have been deployed on Navratri, and he would have allowed us to celebrate the festival as he is celebrating," he said.
However, in a letter dated October 10, the LDA mentioned that JPNIC is a construction site with haphazardly spread materials and potential insect infestations due to rain. "JPNIC is a construction site where construction material is spread haphazardly, and there is a possibility of many insects due to rain," the LDA said.
"SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has Z plus category security, due to which it is not safe and appropriate for him to garland the statue and visit JPNIC due to security reasons," it added.
Meanwhile, BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari accused Akhilesh Yadav of doing politics in the matter adding that the SP has forgotten the ideals of Jai Prakash Narayan.
"Akhilesh Yadav is doing politics. The notice that has been issued makes it very clear that the construction is incomplete. Had Akhilesh Yadav had good intentions, he could have paid tribute to Jai Prakash Narayan even in his office. Today, SP has forgotten the ideals of Jai Prakash Narayan. Had they followed those ideals, they would not have forged an alliance with Congress party," he said.