Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government of "murdering democracy" and said that police stopping a party delegation from travelling to Bareilly at its behest is condemnable.
In a statement, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister alleged that the BJP government is acting unconstitutional and undemocratic.
"The BJP government is resorting to dictatorship to hide its failures. The government is attacking the basic spirit of the Constitution with its dictatorial attitude," he said.
On Saturday, police stopped a delegation of Samajwadi Party leaders from travelling to Bareilly.
In the morning, Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, Mata Prasad Pandey, was stopped by police personnel stationed outside his Lucknow residence when he moved towards his private vehicle to travel to the violence-hit city.
In a statement, Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said that police placed all members of the party delegation under house arrest. This included Mata Prasad Pandey; Lok Sabha MPs Harendra Malik, Iqra Hasan Choudhary, Ziaur Rahman Barq, Mohibullah Nadvi and Neeraj Maurya; former MPs Virpal Singh Yadav, Praveen Singh Aron and Shivcharan Kashyap; MLAs Ataur Rahman and Shahzil Islam Ansari; former minister Bhagwat Sharan Gangwar, and party leaders Shamim Khan Sultani and Shubhalesh Yadav.
This is condemnable and shameful, Akhilesh Yadav said.
"Just recently, a delegation led by senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member Ramji Lal Suman was stopped," he said.
It is surprising that the district magistrate, citing prohibitory orders, has now prevented the Leader of the Opposition and the Samajwadi Party delegation from going to Bareilly, he added.
Yadav said the BJP government "should understand that it will achieve nothing by using its repression against the people of Bareilly."
He said the PDA (Backward, Dalit, Minority) has awakened, and the BJP's injustice and oppression will not stand in the face of PDA unity.
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Kolkata (PTI): Finn Allen blasted a 35-ball 93, while Angkrish Raghuvanshi hit an unbeaten 44-ball 82 as Kolkata Knight Riders kept their playoff hopes alive with a 29-run win over Gujarat Titans in the IPL match here on Saturday.
Sent in to bat, Allen went on a six-hitting spree, smashing 10 maximums and four boundaries to add 95 off 41 balls with Raghuvanshi (82).
Raghuvanshi then shared another 108 off 53 balls with Cameron Green (52 not out) to power KKR to a challenging 247 for 2.
In reply, GT could manage 218-4, riding on skipper Shubman Gill's 49-ball 85 and a 35-ball 57 from Jos Buttler. Opener Sai Sudarsan was retired hurt but returned to make a 28-ball 53 not out.
Sunil Narine (2/29) claimed two wickets and Saurabh Dubey snapped one for KKR.
For GT, Mohammed Siraj (1/50), Sai Kishore (1/38) were the wicket-takers.
Brief Score:
KKR: 247 for 2 in 20 overs (Finn Allen 93, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 82 not out, Camero Green 52 not out; Mohammed Siraj 1/50).
GT: 218 for 4 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 85, Sunil Narine 2/29).
