A fresh political controversy has erupted in Uttar Pradesh surrounding the cancelled Bulandshahr tour of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. The party leadership has alleged that the visit had to be shelved because the local administration deliberately denied necessary permissions, leading to a sharp escalation in tensions between the opposition camp and the state administration.
SP spokesperson Udavir Singh details the sequence
Elaborating on the developments, Samajwadi Party spokesperson Udavir Singh stated that Akhilesh Yadav was scheduled to visit Bulandshahr to address a booth-level workers convention. The itinerary was initially planned for August 22, but the district administration requested a postponement due to the ongoing Kanwar Yatra, assuring that permissions would be granted once the pilgrimage concluded. Subsequently, fresh dates were fixed for September 11 and 12, with a press conference slated for the first day and a major meeting at a private hotel on the second day.
Singh added that while permission was sought to land the helicopter at the police lines helipad, which is widely considered the most secure location, the administration later offered clearance for a helipad on a private plot of land on September 12. Following these administrative hurdles, the entire schedule was called off.
Akhilesh Yadav hits out at administration on social media
Expressing strong displeasure over the developments, Akhilesh Yadav took to X to criticize the handling of the visit. He wrote that there is no waterlogging anywhere near the helipad site in Bulandshahr. He alleged that under secret directives from the government, the administration was manufacturing excuses involving cement, mortar, and paver blocks simply to sabotage the September 11 program.
The opposition leader demanded that an impartial investigation be conducted by independent experts in the presence of party office-bearers to bring out the truth. He questioned whether traveling by road would invite excuses about broken highways or expressways, noting that those roads were already in poor condition. Posing a direct query, he asked why weather conditions and helipads always seemed to malfunction specifically for the opposition.
Transport minister Daya Shankar Singh responds
Rejecting the opposition's claims, Uttar Pradesh transport minister Daya Shankar Singh launched a counter-attack, asserting that Akhilesh Yadav has no real intention of visiting Bulandshahr and prefers limiting his presence to social media posts. The minister challenged critics to review the leader's travel record over the past year.
Singh suggested that if the SP chief genuinely wished to travel to Bulandshahr, he could fly into the airport built by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and proceed to the venue by road. This political friction comes at a time when the Samajwadi Party has stepped up its preparations for the upcoming assembly elections, recently introducing a revised dress code for the Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha featuring blue t-shirts, jeans, and traditional red caps.
