SP workers’ ‘cycle of protest’ against demolition of tracks

The Samajwadi Party (SP) workers took out bicycle rallies throughout the state on Sunday to protest against the Yogi Adityanath government’s decision to demolish cycle tracks constructed by his predecessor Akhilesh Yadav.

The cyclists, wearing SP’s red caps and red T-shirts, had altercations with the police in most of the cities.

Wherever the SP workers came out on the streets, the administration deployed police force to prevent any law and order problem.

“The SP cyclists rode bicycles in all the cities including Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Ghaziabad and Noida where the SP government had constructed bicycle tracks,” said SP chief spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary.

The cyclists covered SP’s cycle tracks in their protest routes.

In Lucknow, a face-off between police and cyclists took place near the Lucknow Metro office in Gomti Nagar.

“State president of Chhatra Sabha Digvijay Singh ‘Dev’ and police had an altercation. The police detained him and others for over two hours. Some women cyclists like Pooja Yadav and Jahnvi were also detained,” said Chaudhary.

Last Sunday, urban development minister Suresh Khanna had announced in Bareilly that the government would demolish all bicycle tracks that were constructed on narrow roads and caused traffic congestion.

In Allahabad, the cyclists also carried out a signature campaign at Chandra Shekhar Azad Park and Civil Lines.

Samajwadi Party has been protesting against the government decision. Reacting to the decision, SP’s national president Akhilesh Yadav announced that on returning to power his government would construct more tracks, promote bicycle tourism and if a cyclist died in a road accident, his family would be given a compensation of Rs 10 lakh.

Chaudhary said the Akhilesh government had constructed bicycle tracks keeping health and environmental aspects in view. However, the BJP government had evil eyes on all the public interest works, he alleged.

THE CYCLISTS, WEARING SP’S RED CAPS AND RED TSHIRTS, HAD ALTERCATIONS WITH THE POLICE IN MOST OF THE CITIES.

HT PHOTO Policemen and Samajwadi Party workers had a tiff near Lucknow Metro office in Gomtinagar following the latter’s protest against demolition of bicycle tracks.