Akhilesh Yadav and Yogi Adityanath Clash Over JPNIC Legacy

Yadav’s sharp rebuke follows a series of pointed allegations from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who recently labeled the JPNIC project a symbol of corruption. Adityanath claims the facility, initially budgeted at 200 crore rupees, saw costs balloon to 864 crore rupees while remaining unfinished. During an August 30 address, the Chief Minister alleged that the Samajwadi Party attempted to treat the state-funded center as a private enterprise, prompting his administration to intervene and transfer oversight to the Lucknow Development Authority.

This friction marks a return to long-standing grievances ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. Adityanath maintains that his government’s zero-tolerance policy necessitated the dissolution of an SP-linked committee that allegedly sought control over the venue. Yadav, conversely, characterizes the BJP’s interference as an act of reactionary narrow-mindedness, framing the struggle over the center as a battle between the legacy of socialist icon Jayaprakash Narayan and the current administration’s attempt to erase that history.