Clashes erupt after Akhilesh denied nod to board flight in UP
Samajwadi Party should do away with its negative activities. The party is known for creating a ruckus. YOGI ADITYANATH, chief minister
LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday claimed he was stopped by the Yogi Adityanath government from boarding an Allahabadbound plane at a Lucknow airport, sparking protests by SP workers.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath claimed “Akhilesh’s visit could have created chaos” at the Kumbh mela currently on at Allahabad. “Therefore, his visit was cancelled.”
Protests broke out in Allahabad, Jaunpur, Jhansi, Kannauj, Balrampur, Jalaun, Azamgarh and Gorakhpur where SP supporters allegedly smashed windscreens of vehicles, prompting the police to disperse them with a lathi charge. Badaun MP Dharmendra Yadav was among those injured, SP workers claimed.
Adityanath added that the “Samajwadi Party should do away with its negative activities. The party is known for creating a ruckus”. He also said that Akhilesh had already visited the Kumbh 10 days back. Yadav lashed out at the state government, saying it only believed in “roko, thoko neeti” (policy of stopping and killing people), a reference to a spate of so-called encounter killings in the state.
The SP chief was scheduled to attend an event of the Allahabad University Students’ Union (AUSU). Samajwadi Party backed candidate Uday Yadav is the president of the union.
“I was prevented from boarding the airplane without any written orders. Currently detained at Lucknow airport,” Akhilesh tweeted on Tuesday morning.
He claimed he informed the Yogi government in December about his visit to the Allahabad University. “We sent the first programme on December 27. A detailed programme was sent on February 2 so that the administration could make necessary arrangements in view of the Kumbh,” Yadav said at a press conference in Lucknow. “This government is scared of students,” he said. “I was also invited by a seer at Kumbh for lunch but this government led by a ‘yogi’ has a problem with that also.”
Yadav also posted a series of photographs from the Lucknow airport showing an official standing at the stairs of the aircraft apparently blocking his path. In another photograph, Yadav is seen surrounded by people, including police. Officials from police and administration were present when Yadav reached the airport. The moment he stepped out the car, the officials made a ring around him. “Do not touch me. Keep your hands off me,” he was heard saying.
Principal secretary (home) Arvind Kumar said, “Anticipating law and order problem at the Allahabad University due to animosity between rival student groups, the university administration denied permission for any political programme on the campus and intimated them accordingly. The administration informed the chief minister’s office and Lucknow’s district magistrate about it.” The party also released videos showing Akhilesh’s “detention” at the airport.agitated SP legislators sat on dharna outside Raj Bhawan in Lucknow. Party MLAS also disrupted assembly proceedings.
Coming out in support of Akhilesh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati tweeted: “Is the BJP government at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh so afraid of the BSP-SP alliance that it is resorting to anti-democratic methods in order to curb our political activities?”.
West Bengal CM and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee tweeted, “Where is the democracy in our country?”
“This is yet another example of BJP’S dictatorial attitude,” Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal tweeted.