Lucknow, February 12: Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav after being denied permission to board a flight from Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport on Tuesday, lashed out at the BJP government led by Yogi Adityanath stating that it is scared of his popularity and already lost the Lok Sabha elections before contesting it. Now the row is all over whether he had the written permission or not! On one side Yadav claims he sent the letter a month ago, and on the other, the administration denies of receiving it.

Stating that the state government was informed about his visit to the University on December 27, last year, Yadav said, “I have sent the details about my visit to the university month ago. The letter for permission was sent on December 27, so that issues could be resolved earlier.” The SP chief also stated that the state government’s intentions are not good and the kind of language that this government uses is ‘outrageous’. Akhilesh Yadav ‘Stopped’ at Lucknow Airport While He Was Going To Attend Oath Taking Ceremony at Allahabad University.

Though the UP administration claims that Akhilesh Yadav had not taken permission for boarding a flight on Tuesday and they have no information regarding the matter, the Samajwadi Party rocked the state Assembly following the issues came to light. Due to this, the Assembly was adjourned for 20 minutes during the question hour and 25 minutes during the pre-lunch sitting.

The SP chief arrived at the airport to take a flight to participate in the oath-taking ceremony of the student leader at the Allahabad University. Yadav was of the opinion that with the action by the administration, the state government has also lost the faith of youth and is all prepared for an electoral debacle.

Stating his anguish on the microblogging website, the SP chief said, “I was stopped at the airport without any written order. The authorities failed to clarify when asked. The only motive behind stopping me to participate in student union program was to suppress the ideology of Samajwadi Party.”

Here’s the tweet:

Condemning the move, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati called this a anti-democratic and an example of total dictatorship of the BJP government. She too to Twitter and wrote, “Extremely condemnable that Samajwadi Party President and former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was stopped at Lucknow airport today in order to prevent him from attending programme in Allahabad. This is anti-democratic and an example of total dictatorship of BJP government.” Adding more, she even pointed out the step as unfortunate.

Here’s the tweet:

Joining the condemnation move, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also lend her support to Akhilesh Yadav. She took to Twitter and wrote, “I've already spoken to @yadavakhilesh. We all condemn the arrogant attitude of the so-called #BJP ‘leaders’ who didn't allow Akhilesh to address the students. Even @jigneshmevani80 was not allowed. Where is the democracy in our country? And they are giving lessons to everybody!”

Here is the tweet:

With the current move, the BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh is in a fix and engaging in a war of words with the opposition parties in the state. The current scenario in present political arena certainly depicts that the Lok Sabha elections will be interesting this time.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 12, 2019 05:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).