The Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre, or JPNIC, in Lucknow – which contains a museum dedicated to the memory of the iconic socialist leader and politician – is at the heart of a brewing political row between Samajwadi Party boss Akhilesh Yadav and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Entrances to the JPNIC were barricaded by tin sheets last night – prompting Akhilesh Yadav to launch a fierce attack on the BJP – and those barricades were reinforced this morning by scores of cops. This comes ahead of plans to garland a statue of JP Narayan – inside the JPNIC – on his birth anniversary.

Mr Yadav also shared videos on X showing police barriers outside his party’s office.

“Whether it is the BJP people or their government, their every action is a symbol of negativity. To prevent the Samajwadi people from garlanding the statue of Jayaprakash Narayanji on his birth anniversary, like the last time, barricades have been put up around our private residence…”

भाजपाई लोग हों या इनकी सरकार, इनका हर काम नकारात्मक का प्रतीक है। पिछली बार की तरह समाजवादी लोग कहीं ‘जय प्रकाश नारायण जी’ की जयंती पर उनकी मूर्ति पर माल्यार्पण करने न चले जाएं, इसीलिए उन्हें रोकने के लिए हमारे निजी आवास के आसपास बैरिकेडिंग कर दी गयी है।

– भाजपा ने श्रद्धांजलि… pic.twitter.com/oqAO6g8Qu8

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) October 11, 2024

The row erupted late last night after Mr Yadav – refused permission to visit the JPNIC due to “construction work and a possibility of many insects due to rain” – ripped into the BJP.

“What does the government want to hide by blocking the gate with tin sheets? A museum was built here… we want to pay tribute to a great man… a socialist thinker. Why is the government doing this?”

“This government is scared,” he replied, “… but can his (JP Narayan’s) ideology be stopped?”

ये है भाजपा राज में आज़ादी का दिखावटी अमृतकाल
श्रद्धांजलि न दे पाए जनता इसलिए उठा दी गयी दीवार

भाजपा ने जो रास्ता बंद किया है, वो उनकी बंद सोच का प्रतीक है।

भाजपा जय प्रकाश नारायण जी जैसे हर उस स्वतंत्रता सेनानी के लिए अपने मन में दुर्भावना और दुराव रखती है, जिसने भी देश की… pic.twitter.com/kYaHiX1B1n

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) October 10, 2024

Last year Mr Yadav – not given permission to visit the site – refused to back down.

The ex-UP Chief Minister jumped over a wall to garland the statue.

“This is not the first time,” he raged to reporters last night, “Every year on this day socialists used to gather here. They garlanded the statue and expressed their views. This great leader, who gave the slogan of total revolution, did not bow down before the government of the time.”

The JPNIC was inaugurated by Mr Yadav in 2016, when he was Chief Minister.

Construction, though, was paused after the BJP swept to power in the 2017 election. Mr Yadav alleged last night this was a deliberate move and that there are plans to sell off the structure.

“But the programme (to garland the statue) will continue,” he vowed.

Maintenance of the JPNIC is the responsibility of the Lucknow Development Authority.

The LDA had refused Mr Yadav permission to visit the JPNIC – following a written request on Tuesday from his office to the state body – claiming safety concerns over ongoing construction work and the possibility of insects after heavy rain. Lucknow Police also denied permission.

Rather bizarrely, the LDA’s letter Thursday also noted Mr Yadav has Z+ category security (only Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a more secure net around him) and this made it “not safe and appropriate for him to garland the statue and visit JPNIC… due to security reasons”.

किसी को नमन करने या श्रद्धांजलि देने से रोकना सुसभ्य लोगों की निशानी नहीं। pic.twitter.com/4Co28qyahN

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) October 10, 2024

As a prelude, earlier Thursday Mr Yadav’s party shared a video on X showing workers placing the tin sheets, and slammed a “useless BJP government… continuously attacking democracy!”

“This shows the dirty politics of the BJP. This anti-people government has insulted great men by ruining development work like JPNIC built in Lucknow. Socialists will not bow down…”

With input from agencies

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.

Video captured across the state shows the scale of destruction to homes and structures. 

​Video captured across the state shows the scale of destruction to homes and structures.