Uttar Pradesh government defended its act to stop Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on his way to Prayagraj on Tuesday.
In his defence, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath questioned Mr Yadav that why he was adamant to go to the Prayagraj when the district authorities of the holy city have denied permission to him.
“Was he going to create violence there?” the UP CM questioned.
Mr Yogi said that Akhilesh had gone to Prayagraj ten days back and suddenly he again wants to go there when the authorities had said that it can create law and order problem. “We will not compromise with law and order at any cost and whoever he might be,” the CM told mediapersons here.
“SP should refrain from its anarchist activities. Allahabad University claimed that Akhilesh’s visit may create law and order problem because of the dispute between student organisations. Hence the government took this step,” he asserted.
State parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, too in the state assembly, said that Mr Yadav was informed accordingly about the decision of the Prayagraj authority. “He still went to the airport just to create politics and to gain mileage,” he claimed.
On SP’s allegation that the BJP was strangulating democracy by preventing Akhilesh from going to Prayagraj, Mr Khanna said that it was the SP leaders who were violating law to create disturbances in the state.
He said in 2017, the Allahabad University students union had issued a direction that no politicians would be invited for any programme.
The BJP leader also denied the reports that Akhilesh was manhandled at the airport. “We are committed to maintain law and order and will do whatever is required,” he asserted.
BJP general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak blamed the SP for trying to ‘create’ violence on the name of going to Allahabad University union function.
“It is the old habbit of the SP leaders and their rowdy acts to create law and order problem. But when BJP was trying to maintain law and order at any cost, these SP leaders were trying to take political mileage over the issue,” he alleged.(UNI)