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Akhilesh Yadav Says He Was Stopped At Lucknow Airport, Yogi Claims 'Law & Order' Issue

Akhilesh said he was leaving to attend an oath-taking ceremony at the Allahabad University.
Twitter/@yadavakhilesh

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday claimed he was stopped at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow in a bid to prevent his visit to Allahabad University for the oath-taking ceremony of a student leader.

“The government is afraid of oath ceremony of a student leader and is stopping me at the airport to prevent me from visiting Allahabad,” Yadav claimed.

The SP leader also released a detailed statement on the incident.

When asked by PTI, Airport Director AK Sharma said, “I have no such information.”

The matter rocked the Uttar Pradesh legislature on Tuesday.

SP members learnt their party president had been stopped at the airport and tried to raise the matter during Question Hour at the UP assembly.

“The present regime is trying to kill democracy and stop our leader from visiting Allahabad,” SP leader Narendra Verma said.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati also condemned the incident and asked whether the ruling BJP was afraid of their alliance because of which it was “resorting to anti-democratic methods”.

Mayawati described the episode as “an example of total dictatorship of BJP government”.

“This is very unfortunate and this undemocratic step will be fought at all levels,” she said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath claimed the government had stopped Akhliesh as Allahabad University had said that his visit could create law and order problem because of a dispute between student organisations there.

The university had also written to Akhilesh’s personal secretary on Monday, informing him that politicians were not allowed to participate in its events, reported NDTV.

The Prayagraj police also told NDTV that Akhilesh had been denied permission to enter the campus by the university administration, fearing law and order problems.

(With PTI inputs)

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.