Akhilesh Yadav visits JPNIC in night, slams govt for barring entrance with tin sheets

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav Thursday night reached Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre and lambasted the Yogi Adityanath government for apparently barring its main gate behind tin sheets to prevent entry.

It is the birth anniversary of the socialist leader on October 11.

Last year, Yadav had to climb over the gate of JPNIC in Gomti Nagar to garland a statue of Jai Prakash Narayan located in the premises.

"This JPNIC, the museum of socialists, statue of Jayaprakash Narayan and there are things inside on how we can understand socialism," Akhilesh Yadav told reporters outside the Centre.

"What is the government hiding by erecting these tin sheds. Is it possible that they are getting ready to sell it, or want to give it to someone?" he added.

Asked if he would come to the centre tomorrow to pay his tributes to the Emergency crusader, Yadav said, "We will decide the programme tomorrow. For how long they will keep it barred behind tin sheds."

Later in a post on X, the SP president derided the BJP's rule as "ostentatious Amritkal of freedom" and termed the closure a symbol of the party's "closed thinking."

"BJP holds ill-will and animosity towards every freedom fighter like Jayaprakash Narayan ji, who participated in the freedom struggle of the country.

"It is the guilt inside the BJP, whose members did not participate in the freedom struggle of the country, which does not allow them to pay tribute to the revolutionaries even on their birth anniversaries. Condemnable!" he said.

Earlier in the day, the Samajwadi Party on social media shared a video showing some workers erecting tin sheets before the main gate of the JPNIC and condemned the action.

"The useless BJP government is constantly attacking democracy!" it said in a post on X.

The party termed the barring an instance of "dirty politics" of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"This anti-people government has insulted great men by ruining development work like JPNIC built in Lucknow. Socialists will not bow down to these dictators!" it said.

Lucknow Police announced traffic restrictions around the building for Friday.

The JPNIC was inaugurated by Yadav in 2016 during his tenure as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Work on the building, however, was stopped after BJP came to power in the state in 2017.

The building, among other structures, houses the Jayaprakash Narayan Interpretation Centre, a museum.