Urging Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to withdraw support from Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday slammed BJP after he was stopped from visiting Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre (JPNiC) in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow.
On Thursday, the former Chief Minister was stopped from accessing the statue in the capital by the authorities, sparking protests by Samajwadi Party workers, which continued on Friday when Yadav revisited the site.
Pointing out that many socialist leaders like Kumar are currently supporting the government, Yadav said Nitish Kumar who rose from the movement led by Jai Prakash Narayan should take “this opportunity to withdraw support” from a government that is preventing socialists from paying tribute to their icon. JD(U), Nitish Kumar’s party, plays a key role in maintaining the NDA government’s parliamentary majority.
Stopped from visiting the JPNIC, at 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.
Earlier in the day, Yadav retorted sharply at the saffron party and said: “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 ‘Jai Prakash Narayan Ji’ statue on his birth anniversary like last time, barricades have been put up around our private residence to stop them.”
Yadav 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,” the former CM said.
Hitting out at BJP, he said the BJP has always been against the freedom fighters and the freedom movement. “They have learnt how to block the path by secretly living with the colonial powers and supporting them. Everyone says today, we don’t want BJP!” he added.
This come a day after Yadav was denied permission to visit the JPNIC, citing “construction work and possibility of many insects due to rain”. Yadav hit out at the BJP while standing before the tin barricades.
The JPNIC was inaugurated by Yadav in 2016 during his tenure as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, but construction stalled after the BJP’s victory in 2017.