Akhilesh stopped at airport, supporters go on warpath

LUCKNOW: The 'grounding' of Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav at Lucknow airport has brought his party workers on the warpath across the state. Yadav was on the way to the Allahabad University for a function but was physically stopped by the police from boarding a special flight to Prayagraj, 200 km from Lucknow.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the government had taken action after a request from the university, which was apprehensive about a law and order situation. Yadav's party called it an attempt to kill democracy.

Within hours, protests swept through Prayagraj, Jaunpur, Jhansi, Kannauj, Balrampur, Jalaun, Azamgarh and Gorakhpur and state capital Lucknow.

Samajwadi Party supporters on a spree of violence vandalised vehicles and clashed with the police when they came to control the mob. In Prayagraj, parliamentarian Dharmendra Yadav was injured in lathi-charge by the police, the party claimed.

Yadav's tweets on his experience and the photos and videos posted by his party's media cell had also incensed the opposition parties, which took on the ruling BJP in the parliament and the state assembly.