Samajwadi Party president and former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav along with several MlCs and hundreds of supporters were detained in Unnao en route to Auraiyya on Thursday afternoon sparking statewide protests in which SP workers fought pitched battle with the police. The entourage was going to meet jailed SP leader Pradeep Yadav.
In Auraiyya, major violence broke out on Wednesday during the filing of nominations for District Panchayat Chairman bypolls when SP activists clashed with the police and the protestors even torch a private SUV of a BJP MlA. Several SP leaders including former MlA Pradeep Yadav were later arrested by the police.
Yadav was detained on lucknow-Agra Expressway in Unnao at Hasanganj toll plaza and was later taken to Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Dhaura along with his supporters. The police also used mild force to disperse SP activists when they tried break security barriers. Yadav was soon released.
Speaking to reporters, Yadav said that the BJP Government was violating democratic norms. “We were slated to meet jailed SP leaders peacefully but the BJP Government used force to crush our democratic rights. My detention was undemocratic as I was going to Auraiyya merely to meet party leaders implicated in false cases by the police,’’ he said. “This BJP government is doing nothing except sowing seeds of hatred among different sections of the society. The Yogi government was breaking all norms to misuse police and official machinery to win Panchayat by-polls,” the former Chief Minister said.