After the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) denied Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav permission to visit the Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC) for the freedom fighter’s birth anniversary, BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said that Samajwadi Party had forgotten the ideals of Jai Prakash Narayan, and further alleged that after defeat in Haryana assembly elections, entire INDI alliance is resorting to “political stunt”.

Bhandari said, “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, “After the defeat in Haryana, the entire INDI alliance is resorting to political stunt. They understood that the country’s people wanted the ideals of Jai Prakash Narayan to be taken forward by PM Narendra Modi. Jai Prakash Narayan had an Anti-emergency ideology. But Akhilesh Yadav forgot it and allied with Congress…Akhilesh Yadav knows that he will lose in the upcoming by-polls. So, to divert attention from this defeat, he will try to play victim cards one after the other. Arvind Kejriwal is trying the same in Delhi because they lost deposits in Haryana. So, the people of UP and the country are asking Akhilesh Yadav if he believes in the ideals of Jai Prakash Narayan, why did he forge an alliance with the emergency party Congress?”

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Meanwhile, barricading and police forces were deployed outside the Samajwadi Party (SP) office in Lucknow on Friday.

‘BJP doing dictatorship’

Meanwhile, SP MLA Ravidas Malhotra said that they would pay tribute by breaking through all barricades.

As reported by ANI, Malhotra slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government, asserting that they cannot be silenced by suppression, injustice, or dictatorship. He emphasised the party’s determination to honor Jai Prakash Narayan despite the obstacles imposed by the government.

“JPNIC was built during Samajwadi Party govt… On his (Jai Prakash Narayan) birth anniversary we wanted to garland his statue to pay tribute. But the BJP govt isn’t allowing this… But, we will do this by breaking all the barricades put up by the BJP govt. The BJP govt can’t silence us through suppression, injustice and dictatorship,” he said.

JPNIC has been sealed, barricaded and the police force has been deployed ahead of Akhilesh Yadav’s scheduled visit on the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Narayan on Friday.

Akhilesh Yadav went to JPNIC on Thursday evening after the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) refused to grant him permission to visit the site on Friday for the freedom fighter’s birth anniversary, citing security concerns.

Upon arriving at JPNIC, Yadav criticised the Uttar Pradesh government for blocking the entrance gate with tin sheets.

“The government wants to hide something by building this tin boundary. Why are they not letting us honour a great leader? This is not happening for the first time. Every year on Jayaprakash Narayan Jayanti the workers and leader of SP used to gather and pay their respects to him…Why does the government want to hide?… This is not under construction, this will be sold,” he said.

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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.

The letter also noted that Yadav has Z-plus category security, making it unsafe for him to garland the statue and visit the site. “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.

The SP chief further alleged that a wall was erected to stop him and others from paying tribute to Jayaprakash Narayan on his birth anniversary on Friday. He further accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of harbouring ill will toward every freedom fighter.

“This is the ostentatious Amritkal of freedom under BJP rule. A wall was raised so that people could not pay tribute. The path that the BJP has closed is a symbol of their closed thinking,” the SP chief wrote in a post on X in Hindi.

He continued, “The BJP holds ill-will and animosity towards every freedom fighter like Jayaprakash Narayan ji who took part in the freedom struggle of the country. It is the guilt within the BJP colleagues, who did not take part in the freedom struggle of the country that does not allow them to pay tribute to the revolutionaries even on their birth anniversaries. Condemnable!”

JP Narayan is renowned for leading a mass movement against the Congress government and for forming India’s first non-Congress government by uniting the Opposition against the Congress’s alleged corruption during the Emergency.

He is also recognised for his remarkable total revolution, or Sampoorna Kranati, and for rallying a coalition of Opposition parties in the mid-1970s against Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.