'Ostentatious Amritkal Of Freedom': Akhilesh Yadav Slams UP Govt For Blocking Entry To JPNIC In Lucknow

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday lambasted the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh for barring the main gate of Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC) behind tin sheets in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar area. This happened when Yadav visited the venue late on Thursday, hours before the birth anniversary of socialist leader Jai Prakash Narayan on October 11.

Yadav alleged the government wanted to hide something and put the tin sheets in place to prevent his entry to the premises.

“This JPNIC, the museum of socialists, statue of Jayaprakash Narayan and there are things inside on how we can understand socialism. 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?” Akhilesh Yadav said while talking to reporters outside the venue.

“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 Jai Prakash Narayan Jayanti, the workers and leader of the Samajwadi Party 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 alleged.

The Samajwadi Party, on October 8, had informed the JPNIC authorities of Yadav’s visit to the Centre on the birth anniversary of Jai Prakash Narayan. The letter was also addressed to the Lucknow Police Commissioner and the District Magistrate (DM).

A video, widely shared on social media, also claimed that Yadav, upon reaching the building, asked a painter to write ‘Samajwadi Party Zindabad’ on the tin sheets, news agency PTI reported.

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

On being asked if he would come to the centre on October 11 (today) to pay his tributes to the Emergency crusader, Yadav told reporters, “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 chief derided the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s rule as an “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!” Yadav wrote in an X post.

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 BJP.

“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 DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY ISSUES STATEMENT

In an official letter, the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) stated, “JPNIC is a construction site where construction material is spread haphazardly and there is a possibility of many insects due to rain. 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.”

On Friday morning, the road outside Akhilesh Yadav’s residence in Lucknow was barricaded and a heavy police force was deployed, as the Samajwadi Party chief was scheduled to visit JPNIC today on the birth anniversary of Jai Prakash Narayan.

Meanwhile, the Lucknow Police announced traffic restrictions around the building for Friday.

JPNIC LUCKNOW

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 Jai Prakash Narayan Interpretation Centre, a museum.