Akhilesh Yadav vs BJP over JP Narayan Centre and an appeal to Nitish Kumar

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday garlanded a bust of socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan mounted atop a vehicle outside his home after he and hundreds of protesters were advised against visiting the Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC) due to security concerns.
Akhilesh Yadav visited the JPNIC on Thursday night, a day before the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Narayan, and alleged the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh installed tin sheets in front of JPNIC’s main gate apparently to prevent his entry. On Friday, police installed barricades outside his home to prevent Akhilesh Yadav from leaving.
The Samajwadi Party chief and several workers climbed on the barricades, waved the party flags and held posters of Jayaprakash Narayan. In his address to the workers, Akhilesh Yadav appealed to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a product of the JP movement, to withdraw JD(U)’s support to the NDA government at the Centre.
“Many of the socialists are in the government and helping the government to continue. Nitish Kumar emerged from his (Jai Prakash Narayan) movement. This is a chance for Nitish Kumar to withdraw support from the government, which is not allowing the socialists to pay tribute to Jai Prakash Narayan on his birth anniversary,” he said.
Around 10.30 am, a bust of Jayaprakash Narayan, mounted on a vehicle, was garlanded by Akhilesh Yadav on the road packed with Samajwadi Party workers, several of them donning red caps and raising slogans and party flags. Akhilesh Yadav was accompanied by party leaders Lal Bihari Yadav and Rajendra Chouadhary, and Leader of Opposition Mata Prasad Pandey, among others.
Earlier, the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) informed Akhilesh 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 the notice, the LDA stated that JPNIC is a construction site where construction material is spread haphazardly and warned of the possibility of many insects due to rain.
“SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has Z plus category security, due to which it is not safe and appropriate for him to garland the statue and visit JPNIC due to security reasons,” the notice read.
During his visit to the JPNIC on Thursday night, Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP government of hiding something by erecting the tin sheets before the centre’s gate. “This JPNIC is the museum of socialists and has the statue of Jayaprakash Narayan. There are things inside on how we can understand socialism,” he said.
“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 said.
In a video shared online, Akhilesh Yadav asked a painter to write ‘Samajwadi Party Zindabad’ (Long live Samajwadi Party) on the tin sheets. The party also posted a clip showing some workers erecting tin sheets before the JPNIC gate and accused the BJP of attacking democracy.

‘Samajwadi Party Zindabad’ written on the tin sheets installed on the main gate of JPNIC in Lucknow. (Photo: X/@yadavakhilesh)

Later, Akhilesh Yadav, in a post on X, derided the BJP’s rule as “ostentatious Amrit Kaal of freedom” and termed the barricading a symbol of the party’s “closed thinking”.
“The BJP holds ill-will and animosity towards every freedom fighter like Jayaprakash Narayan ji, who participated in the freedom struggle of the country. It is the guilt inside the BJP, whose members did not participate in the freedom struggle of the country, which does not allow them to pay tribute to the revolutionaries even on their birth anniversaries. Condemnable!” he tweeted.
Last year, Akhilesh Yadav had to climb over the gate of JPNIC to garland a statue of Jayaprakash Narayan located on the premises.

The high-voltage drama prompted a swift response from Uttar Pradesh Minister Suresh Khanna, who took a dig at the Samajwadi Party, calling it a “fused transformer”.
“Samajwadi Party is a fused transformer. People will not like a fused transformer. The BJP is a good transformer. People are with us,” he said.
BJP spokesperson Manish Shukla derided Akhilesh Yadav and said, “Akhilesh Yadav should answer why Samajwadi Party leaders are only active in the dark of night. His action is childish.”
Akhilesh Yadav inaugurated the JPNIC when he was the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister. Work on the building, however, was stopped after the BJP was voted to power in the state in 2017.
The building, among other structures, houses the Jayaprakash Narayan Interpretation Centre, a museum.