'Nitish, withdraw support...': Akhilesh vs BJP over JP garland row
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday asked Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar to withdraw support from the Narendra Modi government, citing an incident where "a socialist" was barred from garlanding the statue of Jayaprakash Narayan. On Thursday, the authorities in Lucknow prevented Yadav from reaching the statue, leading to a protest by SP workers. To recall, Kumar's JD(U) is part of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.
'Chance for Nitish Kumar...': Yadav
"Many of the socialist people are in the government and helping the government to continue," Yadav said mounting an attack on the Centre. "Bihar CM Nitish Kumar emerged from his (Jai Prakash Narayan) movement, this is a chance for Nitish Kumar to withdraw support from the government which is not allowing a socialist to pay tribute to Jayaprakash Narayan on his birth anniversary," he added.
'Conspiring': Yadav's allegations against NDA
"We celebrate his birth anniversary...This govt is trying to stop us from garlanding him, but we did it on the road. They are conspiring to sell this museum and hence they have covered JPNIC [Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre]. Just think that the government, which is trying to sell the museum built to respect Jai Prakash Narayan, how can you expect that they will protect the Constitution?" Yadav Added added.
Yadav accuses BJP of disrespecting freedom fighters
Notably, Jayaprakash Narayan, commonly known as JP, was a Gandhian freedom fighter who actively campaigned against the Indira Gandhi government during the Emergency period and prior to it. Yadav further accused the BJP of disrespecting freedom fighters like Narayan. He wrote, "The BJP holds ill-will and animosity toward every freedom fighter like Jayaprakash Narayan ji who took part in the freedom struggle of the country."
BJP leader Ilmi responds to Yadav's allegations
"It is the guilt within the BJP colleagues, who did not take part in the freedom struggle...that does not allow them to pay tribute to the revolutionaries even on their birth anniversaries." he added. Meanwhile, BJP leader Shazia Ilmi hit back at Yadav's allegations. "If he wants to give honest tribute to Jai Prakash Narayan, he will break his alliance with those parties, against which Jai Prakash ji raised his voice during the emergency and went to jail," she said.
Lucknow Development Authority's letter to SP
The BJP leader added, "He also knows that there is work going on and there are other ways to pay respect." Earlier, the Lucknow Development Authority had informed the SP that the JP Narayan Convention Centre project is currently under construction. "The construction material is kept in...unplanned manner...The site has not been found suitable for garlanding/visiting from the security point of view of Akhilesh Yadav...who has Z-Plus security," the LDA said in its letter dated October 10.
