Lucknow:

The Samajwadi Party on Thursday slammed the Yogi Adityanath government for allegedly erecting tin sheets before the gates of Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre, apparently to prevent party president Akhilesh Yadav from visiting it.

It is the birth anniversary of the socialist leader on October 12.

Last year, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had to climb over the gate of JPNIC in Gomti Nagar to garland a statue of Jai Prakash Narayan located in the premises.

The SP on social media shared a video showing some workers erecting tin sheets before the main gate of the JPNIC and condemned the action.

“The useless BJP government is constantly attacking democracy!” it said in a post on X.

The party termed the barricading an instance of “dirty politics” of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

“This anti-people government has insulted great men by ruining development work like JPNIC built in Lucknow. Socialists will not bow down to these dictators!” it said.

Yadav in a post he shared from his handle said: “Preventing someone from bowing or paying homage is not a sign of civilized people.” The JPNIC was inaugurated by Yadav in 2016 during his tenure as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Work on the building, however, was stopped after BJP came to power in the state in 2017.

The building, among other structures, houses the Jayaprakash Narayan Interpretation Centre, a museum.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)