Claiming that the foundation stone for the Purvanchal Expressway had been laid during their regime and that the BJP government was trying to take credit for the same, the Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders 'inaugurated' the Expressway symbolically around the same time when prime minister Narendra Modi launched it at Sultanpur.
Dozens of SP workers, led by a few former legislators, cycled to the Expressway in Azamgarh district, and symbolically inaugurated it amid showering of flower petals and chanting of slogans hailing SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav.
The SP workers also took out a cycle rally on the Expressway.
Earlier Akhilesh had slammed the BJP government for taking credit for the Expressway. "The ribbon came from Lucknow and the scissor from Delhi," the SP leader said in a sarcastic message on his Twitter handle. "The BJP leaders must have found out about the length of the Expressway sitting at Lucknow," he added.
The administration, anticipating protest from the SP workers, had deployed security personnel around their homes in Sultanpur to prevent them from coming out, sources said. The district authorities in Ghazipur had also denied permission to Akhilesh to take out his 'Vijay Yatra' on Tuesday, triggering protests from the SP leaders.
BJP hit back at Akhilesh saying that now the latter would also take credit for the construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya.
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