Advised against visiting JPNIC, defiant Akhilesh garlands JP Narayan's bust outside residence
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Lucknow(PTI): SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday garlanded a bust of Jayaprakash Narayan mounted atop a vehicle outside his residence where hundreds of party workers had gathered since morning after the authorities advised him not to visit the JP International Centre due to security concerns.
Yadav had reached the JPNIC on Thursday night and lambasted the Yogi Adityanath government for barring its main gate behind tin sheets apparently to prevent entry.
On Friday morning, he slammed the BJP government in the state for putting up barricades near his house on Vikramaditya Marg here to prevent 'Samajwadis' from visiting the site and garlanding JP Narayan's statue on his birth anniversary.
SP workers had assembled outside Yadav's residence ambiguity remained over the SP chief's scheduled visit to the JPNIC.
At around 10.30 am, a bust of Narayan, mounted on a vehicle, was garlanded by Yadav on the road packed with SP workers, several of them donning red caps and raising slogans and party flag.
Yadav was accompanied by SP leaders Lal Bihari Yadav and Rajendra Chouadhary, and Leader of Opposition Mata Prasad Pandey, among others.
"On the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Narayan ji, we go to the JPNIC museum every time to celebrate. But I don't know why this government stops us from doing it," he said.
"This blockade by the BJP is not being done for the first time, it has blocked all good work. However, today, standing on the road, we are paying tribute to the 'Jan-Nayak'. This government wants to stop us from garlanding but we have done it here on the road itself," he told the gathering.
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister alleged that the memorial at JPNIC is under covers because of a "conspiracy to sell it".
"Imagine, there is a government which wants to sell a museum," he said.
Earlier, the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) Yadav that his planned visit to the Centre was "not advisable" as it cited security concerns due to the ongoing construction work at the site.
In a letter referencing their correspondence dated October 8, the LDA noted that Yadav, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh who is accorded Z-plus security, intended to pay homage to the statue located at the convention centre.
"It is to be informed that the Engineering Department, Lucknow Development Authority has provided a report regarding the updated status of the work site, in which the JP Narayan Convention Centre project is still under construction.
"The construction material is kept in an unplanned manner and due to the rainy season there is a possibility of the presence of unwanted living creatures. The site has not been found suitable for garlanding/visiting from the security point of view of Akhilesh Yadav, former chief minister, who has Z-Plus security," the LDA said in its letter dated October 10.
Yadav took to social media and shared video clips and pictures of the deployment of security personnel, including police and rapid action force, with barricades near his house here, a stone's throw away from the Samajwadi Party headquarters.
"Whether it is the BJP people or their government, their every action is a symbol of negativity. To prevent the Samajwadi people from garlanding the statue of JP Narayan Ji on his birth anniversary like last time, barricades have been put up around our private residence to stop them," he posted on X in Hindi.
The SP chief accused the BJP of creating hurdles in the path of harmony, peace, reservation, farmers' welfare, women's safety, youth development, employment generation, and development of PDAs (pichhde, Dalit, alpsankhyak).
"The BJP has always been against freedom fighters and the freedom movement. They have learnt from the colonial powers and supported them secretly. Everyone is saying today that they don't want the BJP," Yadav said.
Senior Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Singh Yadav also hit out at the state government over the issue.
"The BJP, intoxicated with power, wants to barricade democracy. The system of power can never prevail over the system of the people. Government, learn a lesson from the past! Dictatorship does not last long in a democracy," he posted on X along with videos of security deployment.
Yadav reached JPNIC in the Gomti Nagar area late Thursday and lambasted the Yogi Adityanath government for barring its main gate behind tin sheets apparently to prevent entry.
Last year, too, Yadav had to climb over the gate of the JPNIC to garland the statue of JP Narayan that was installed on the premises by the SP government led by him.
"This JPNIC, the museum of socialists, statue of JP Narayan and there are things inside on how we can understand socialism," Yadav told reporters outside the Centre around midnight.
"What is the government hiding by erecting these tin sheds. Is it possible that they are getting ready to sell it, or want to give it to someone?" he added.
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TN Assembly elections: Eight-month pregnant homemaker wins Thiru Vi Ka Nagar seat for TVK
Chennai (PTI): Before giving birth, she had already delivered a mandate—a symbol of hope for Thiru Vi Ka Nagar.
Echoing Delhi’s 2013 “common citizen” political churn associated with the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), an eight-month-pregnant homemaker, M R Pallavi, has been elected as an MLA from Chennai’s Thiru Vi Ka Nagar constituency, emerging as one of the notable first-time faces of the Vijay-led TVK in the recently held Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
In the narrow lanes of Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, a steady stream of media personnel has been making their way to Pallavi’s residence—a scene reminiscent of the result day in Delhi when journalists thronged the modest home of Rakhi Birla, who had won from Mangolpuri on an AAP ticket.
Pallavi, 36, a homemaker educated up to class XII, defeated the DMK candidate K S Ravichandran by a margin of 22,333 votes in the reserved Thiru Vi Ka Nagar Assembly constituency.
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam emerged as the single largest party by winning 108 seats, while DMK and AIADMK got 59 and 47, respectively.
Pallavi’s victory has drawn attention due to her personal circumstances. She campaigned extensively while eight months pregnant, going door-to-door to reach voters.
According to local accounts, she even fainted once during the campaign but continued her outreach.
She has not spoken to the media following her victory, as doctors have advised her to rest. Her husband, Rajesh, briefly recounted her campaign efforts.
A self-professed admirer of actor-turned-politician Vijay, Pallavi joined TVK soon after its formation and is now among its first-time legislators.
Doctors have advised her to be hospitalised around May 20, as she is expecting her second child. Ahead of that, voters in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar have entrusted her with representing them in the state Assembly.
Political observers say the rise of candidates like Pallavi signals a possible shift in Tamil Nadu’s political landscape, with voters backing a new party and candidates from non-traditional backgrounds.
