Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 31 : Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday accused the Uttar Pradesh police of stopping him from attending Eid celebrations, labelling the move as "dictatorship" and "emergency".
"What should I understand from this? Should I understand it as dictatorship or emergency?" Akhilesh Yadav asked while speaking to ANI.
Yadav, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of "not running" the country according to the constitution. He said that his convoy was stopped and only one vehicle was allowed to go ahead.
"When I was coming here today (to attend Eid celebrations), the police deliberately stopped me. After talking for half an hour, I was allowed to go ahead. When I wanted to know why this was being done, no officer had any answer. Is such pressure being created so that we do not attend other people's celebrations? BJP is not running this country as per the constitution," Yadav told reporters.
Meanwhile, Yadav extended greetings on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, saying that Uttar Pradesh was the only place where people of all religions and communities have lived together.
"I extend my wishes to everyone on the occasion of Eid. This festival brings sweets and Sevaiyaan to us and sends a message that India has always had a mixed culture. It is the only land where people of all religions and communities have lived together...Today's Eid, along with that, celebrations of Navratri, have started," the SP chief said.
Speaking on the issue of the Waqf Amendment Bill, he reiterated his party's stand on the proposed bill, saying that they are also against it like most of the parties in the nation.
He said that the SP would oppose the Waqf amendment bill in the Parliament. Yadav said that the decisions taken by the BJP government have failed to benefit the public.
"Most of the parties of the nation are against this bill. The political parties will oppose it. Samajwadi Party is also against this bill. We will oppose this in the Parliament. The big decisions taken by the BJP have failed to benefit the public. They finished reservations for Anglo-Indians. They brought in GST on the pretext of increasing efficiency for businesses. However, corruption has increased due to GST," he said.
"There are many legislations which have affected the public. For example, you can't buy land in the neighbouring state (of Uttarakhand), which was a part of Uttar Pradesh," he added.