The Uttar Pradesh government has sealed the Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC) in Lucknow on the eve of Jayaprakash Narayan’s birth anniversary, sparking a heated controversy with Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav. The site was barricaded, and a heavy police presence was deployed to prevent any gatherings ahead of Yadav’s planned visit to the centre on Friday.
Yadav criticized the government’s actions, accusing them of trying to prevent people from paying tribute to the legendary freedom fighter. “The government wants to hide something by building this tin boundary,” Yadav said on Thursday evening after visiting the centre. “Why are they not letting us honour a great leader? This is not happening for the first time. Every year on Jayaprakash Narayan Jayanti, the workers and leaders of SP used to gather and pay their respects to him…Why does the government want to hide?… This is not under construction, this will be sold.”
Yadav’s visit came after the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) denied him permission to visit JPNIC on the anniversary, citing safety and security concerns. According to a letter issued by the LDA on October 10, the centre is still an active construction site with scattered materials and potential hazards, including the possibility of insect infestations due to recent rains.
The letter emphasized that Yadav’s Z-plus security status made it unsafe for him to visit the area and garland the statue. “Due to his Z-plus security, it is not safe and appropriate for him to garland the statue and visit JPNIC,” the LDA added.
Despite the government’s reasoning, Yadav claimed that the centre’s closure was politically motivated. In a strongly worded post on X (formerly Twitter), Yadav accused the BJP of deliberately trying to prevent tributes to the revolutionary leader, asserting that the party harbours “ill will” toward freedom fighters like Jayaprakash Narayan.
“This is the ostentatious Amritkal of freedom under BJP rule. A wall was raised so that people could not pay tribute. The path that the BJP has closed is a symbol of their closed thinking,” Yadav wrote. “The BJP holds animosity towards every freedom fighter like Jayaprakash Narayan ji, who took part in the country’s freedom struggle. It is their guilt of not being part of the struggle that makes them block these tributes.”
The Samajwadi Party also released a video on X showing workers installing tin sheets at the entrance gate of JPNIC. The party strongly criticized the BJP government, stating, “The UP government’s attempt to re-lock JPNIC on the birth anniversary of Loknayak Jai Prakash Narayan is highly condemnable. Not allowing the garlanding of his statue shows the dirty politics of the BJP.”
The closure of the JPNIC and the denial of permission for Akhilesh Yadav’s visit have deepened the political tensions between the Samajwadi Party and the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh. As the war of words escalates, it remains to be seen how this incident will impact the ongoing political landscape in the state.
