Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav was detained at the Lucknow airport while boarding the plane to Prayagraj
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav was detained at the Lucknow airport while boarding the plane to Prayagraj
On Tuesday, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav was stopped from boarding a chartered flight at the Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport at Lucknow for Prayagraj. He said that this was done in a bid to prevent him from visiting Allahabad to attend an oath-taking ceremony at Allahabad University. Samajwadi Party members were seen protesting at the Lucknow airport and the Allahabad Central University.
Mr. Yadav took to Twitter and posted pictures and a video which showed the police manhandling him, in an attempt to stop him from boarding the flight. In the video, Yadav could be seen shouting at and arguing with the police.
The Prayagraj Police informed, the Allahabad University did not allow any politician to attend the ceremony as they feared law and order issues. The University authorities also wrote a letter to the personal secretary of Akhilesh Yadav regarding the same.
The SP members and Ram Gopal Yadav, the uncle of Akhilesh Yadav, blamed Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, for not granting permission to Akhilesh Yadav to enter the University. Ram Gopal Yadav said, “I directly blame the chief minister. Akhilesh (Yadav) had the permission. It was at the directions of the chief minister that he was stopped. They didn’t even let him reach Allahabad.”
The news became the topic of discussion in the Rajya Sabha. The SP members who were present in the Rajya Sabha raised the point and initiated the discussion. Narendra Verma, the SP leader, said, “The present regime is trying to kill democracy and stop our leader from visiting Allahabad.”
However, Yogi Adityanath denied the allegations and said, the Allahabad University did not want Akhilesh Yadav to visit in order to avoid problems related to law and order, due to which the Government took the step. Adityanath further added, the Lucknow police were also fulfilling their responsibility and following the orders of the Uttar Pradesh Government.
Uttar Pradesh is all set to contest 80 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, scheduled between April and May 2019. The major parties contesting in Uttar Pradesh are the grand alliance of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the SP, the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party.