After Mayawati, now UP CM dubs PM's Lucknow event 'politically motivated'

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to Lucknow to attend the Dussehra celebrations as politically motivated with an eye on the upcoming state assembly polls.

"What can I say about anyone going anywhere? We have to follow a protocol we will do it. I guess if elections were happening in Bihar then the Ravana would have been burnt there," Akhilesh told a press conference.

Echoing similar sentiments, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati yesterday dubbed Prime Minister's Modi's visit to Lucknow a political stunt and said that the event should have been toned down taking into account the loss suffered by the families of soldiers killed in the Uri terror attack.

"The pyre of jawans who lost their lives in the Uri attack has not yet died down, but the Prime Minister is coming to Lucknow to celebrate Dussehra for his political motives," she said.

Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to visit Lucknow and attend Dussehra festivities at the historic Aishbagh Ramlila ground on October 11.