Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav on Friday urged Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to reconsider Janata Dal (United) or JD(U)’s support to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre, citing the alleged insult to socialist leader Jai Prakash Narayan (JP) on his birth anniversary.
The comment came after police prevented Yadav from visiting the Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC) in Lucknow to pay tribute to Narayan. Yadav later garlanded a statue of Narayan outside his residence in the presence of a large gathering of SP workers.
Yadav slammed the BJP government, saying it was hiding something, which is why he was stopped from visiting JPNIC. “It is a conspiracy to sell the world-class building.” He added that JPNIC was opened to the public but the work on it remains incomplete. “I have heard they even paid an additional ₹70 crore to their preferred builder, yet the work remains incomplete.”
He added SP celebrates JP’s birth anniversary every year, and they will do so again at JPNIC once the police are removed. “The government, once deaf and dumb, has now gone blind.” He added had not it been Navratri and Ram Navami, SP workers would have removed barricades put up to prevent him from visiting JPNIC. “I appeal to Nitish Kumar to reconsider his support to BJP in light of the insult to JP,” said Yadav
The BJP fell short of the halfway mark of 272 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha this summer for the first time since 2014. It won 240 seats, making it dependent on the backing of partners such as the JD(U) and the Telugu Desam Party, which have 28 lawmakers, to return power for the third time in a row.
{{/usCountry}}The BJP fell short of the halfway mark of 272 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha this summer for the first time since 2014. It won 240 seats, making it dependent on the backing of partners such as the JD(U) and the Telugu Desam Party, which have 28 lawmakers, to return power for the third time in a row.
{{/usCountry}}Yadav criticised chief minister Yogi Adityanath, saying the latter does not understand the contributions of Narayan, who led the agitation against Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the 1970s. Nitish Kumar was associated with agitation.
Yadav said if there were security concerns, the administration could have provided protection. “Instead, they focused all their efforts on stopping me from entering JPNIC.”
The Lucknow Development Authority cited construction at JPNIC, and danger from seasonal insects and urged Yadav to avoid visiting JPNIC. By Thursday evening, tin sheds were placed at the JPNIC gates supposedly for the construction work.