In the year 2015, Uttar Pradesh’s then Samajwadi Party (SP) government had stopped Yogi Adityanath, the then Gorakhpur MP, from attending an Allahabad University students union’ function on November 20, a BJP lawmaker said on Tuesday.

Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Sahjanwa Sheetal Pandey said the Allahabad University had given permission to Yogi Adityanath to attend the students’ union programme in 2015 but the then chief ministerAkhilesh Yadav did did not grant him permission to visit the university. It was on the direction of the SP government that the police stopped Adityanath from going to Allahabad (now renamed as Prayagraj), Pandey said.

Allahabad University students had invited Adityanath to the function as the chief guest, but leaders of the Samajwadi Party Chhatra Sabha (Samajwadi Party students’ wing) opposed his visit to the university campus.

The function was planned after Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) candidates had been elected to all office-bearers’ post of the students union, except that of the president. The ABVP is the students’ wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS).The then Allahabad district magistrate and superintendent of police had informed Adityanath that his visit to Allahabad (now renamed as Prayagraj) had been banned.

However, Adityanath left Gorakhpur for Allahabad by road to attend the programme. When he reached Varanasi, police stopped him from proceeding to Allahabad. He was taken to Mirzapur where he performed religious rituals at the Vindhyavasni Devi temple there. He returned to Gorakhpur under police escort.

Hitting out at the SP government, Adityanath had accused the Akhilesh government of suppressing democratic rights of opposition leaders.

Later, the police detained the then BJP MP from Phulpur Keshav Prasad Maurya (currently UP deputy chief minister) who was also going to Allahabad University to attend the students’ union programme.

As for the current controversy, the MLA said the BJP government had urged Akhilesh Yadav not to visit Prayagraj (Allahabad) in view of a dispute between the Samajwadi Chattra Sabha and ABVP members who were elected as office bearers of the university students’ union.

The members of both groups had clashed on Saturday. Since Akhilesh was invited by Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha to attend the function, there was the apprehension that the situation might deteriorate after his visit, Pandey said. That was why administrative officers urged him not to visit the university, the MLA said.

First Published: Feb 13, 2019 13:51 IST