Samajwadi Party workers staged protests across Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday after party chief Akhilesh Yadav was detained at the Lucknow airport and stopped from flying to Prayagraj, NDTV reported. Yadav was on his way to attend the oath-taking ceremony of a student leader at Allahabad University.
Workers staged protests, blocked roads and vandalised vehicles in Prayagraj, Lucknow, Jaunpur, Jhansi, Kannauj, Balrampur, Jalaun, Azamgarh and Gorakhpur, according to PTI. They claimed Lok Sabha MP Dharmendra Yadav was injured when police used baton to disperse the protestors in Prayagraj.
At Gorakhpur, Chief Minister Adityanath’s constituency, protestors blocked roads and shouted slogans.
In Lucknow, protesters gathered outside the Assembly complex and the Governor’s House, while some party workers went to the airport.
Party legislators sat on dharna outside the Raj Bhavan to protest against the government’s “undemocratic behaviour”. They relented after Governor Ram Naik said he would meet a delegation of the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday.
Legislators also raised the matter during the Question Hour in the state Assembly on Tuesday. “The present regime is trying to kill democracy and stop our leader from visiting Allahabad,” Samajwadi Party leader Narendra Verma said, according to News18.
Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit adjourned proceedings for 20 minutes after MLAs trooped to the Well. When the House reassembled, Samajwadi Party members again rushed to the Well and sat on a dharna, shouting slogans against Adityanath’s government.
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