NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday criticised the Uttar Pradesh government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for obstructing his visit to the Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC) in Lucknow on the birth anniversary of the socialist icon.
He accused the state government of deliberately preventing him and his supporters from paying homage to Jayaprakash Narayan by barricading the site with tin sheets and urged Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to withdraw his support for the BJP-led government, referencing Kumar’s roots in the Jayaprakash Narayan movement.
He said, “There are many people, including Samajwadi leaders, who are running the government. Bihar’s chief minister Nitish Kumar himself emerged through the JP movement. This is a chance for him to reconsider his support for such a government that prevents people from honouring JP Narayan on his birth anniversary. Nitish Kumar, who strengthened the movement by standing alongside JP Narayan, should withdraw his support from this oppressive regime.”
(Bohot saare log, Samajwadi logg sarkaar mein hain jo sarkaar ko chala rhe hain. Bihar ke mukhyamantri ji bhi hai samay samay parr, jannanyak Jaiprakash ji unke baare mein, unhi ke andolan se woh nijle hai. Yeh mauka mila hai unhe bhi ke aisi sarkaar jo samjawadiyo ko Jaiprakash jayanti ke din yaad nhi krne de rhi hai, uss sarkaar se samarthan wapis le le. Kyunki Bihar ke Nistish kumar ji isi andolan se nikle hain, JP Narayan ji ke sath reh kar unhone unke andolan ko mazboot banaya hai.)
In a sharp criticism of Akhilesh’s statement referring Nistish kumar and questioning his commitment to the values of Jayaprakash Narayan JD(U) spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan said, “This statement is astonishing; does Akhilesh Yadav only want to limit his tribute to Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan, or does he also acknowledge the values of his life? JP fought for the concept of total revolution and called for a change in the system, opposing dynasty politics and the dominance of family rule. If Akhilesh Yadav had given even the slightest priority to those values, the Samajwadi Party wouldn’t be under the complete control of a single family.”

Ranjan further criticised Yadav’s approach and said, “As for being stopped from holding a tribute meeting, instead of going there in the middle of the night, he should have chosen today, on JP’s birth anniversary, as the appropriate time to visit. People do not appreciate such narrow-minded politics when remembering great leaders. Such statements are against the values that JP stood for.”