Akhilesh Yadav challenges UP govt over namaz ban: 'Will you stop press conferences on roads too?'
Synopsis
Akhilesh Yadav turned a bhandara event in Lucknow into a pointed political offensive — using the namaz-on-roads controversy to question whether the Yogi government would ban outdoor press conferences next. The SP chief wove together religion, law-and-order, fuel prices, and small-trader distress into a single narrative of governance failure, signalling the opposition's pre-election playbook in UP.
Key Takeaways
Akhilesh Yadav challenged the Yogi Adityanath government on 19 May over its opposition to namaz on public roads, questioning whether press conferences on roads would be banned next.
Yadav attended a bhandara in Lucknow's Hazratganj , distributing prasad during Jyeshtha month celebrations.
He cited the Constitution to argue that every citizen has equal religious rights.
The SP chief accused the BJP government of using police encounters as optics while crimes against women and Dalits continue in Lucknow .
Yadav linked PM Modi's reported appeal against gold purchases to goldsmith unemployment, and warned fuel-price hikes would raise costs of essential commodities.
Remarks came after state oil companies revised fuel prices for the second time in under a week .
Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday, 19 May took a sharp swipe at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the state government's opposition to namaz on public roads, questioning whether authorities would similarly ban press conferences held outdoors. Yadav made the remarks at a bhandara event in Lucknow's Hazratganj area, where he distributed prasad during ongoing Jyeshtha month celebrations.
The Namaz Remark and Constitutional Argument
'Now also we are sitting outside, on the road. Will the government stop us from holding press conferences on the road? The government itself is conducting every event on the road because it has made no arrangements,' Yadav said, addressing the media at the event.
He invoked the Constitution to argue that no citizen's religion should be targeted. 'No one's religion should be interfered with or disrespected. According to our Constitution and democracy, everybody has equal rights,' he added. The SP chief framed the namaz controversy as a selective crackdown rather than a genuine public-order measure — a charge the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has not formally responded to.
Governance Failures and Law-and-Order Charges
Yadav broadened his attack to cover what he called systemic governance failures under the Yogi Adityanath-led administration. Citing slow traffic as a symptom, he said: 'Traffic moves at a snail's pace in smart city Lucknow.' He accused the BJP government of using high-profile police encounters as a public-relations exercise rather than a genuine law-and-order strategy.
'The government has only shown off in the name of law and order through police encounters on a large scale. However, a well-known newspaper has reported how many women and girls are harassed in Lucknow in a single day,' he claimed, urging the state to release official data on crimes against Dalits and women. The SP chief stopped short of citing specific figures, and the claims could not be independently verified at the time of reporting.
Economic Grievances: Gold, Fuel, and Small Traders
Yadav also trained his fire on the Centre, linking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reported appeal to citizens to refrain from buying gold for a year to rising unemployment among goldsmiths. 'They (BJP) are doing this because they cannot extort from small traders and businesses. So, they will open showrooms of big businessmen to extort from them. They are destroying small traders for their own extortion purpose,' he alleged.
The SP chief's remarks came shortly after state-run oil marketing companies revised fuel prices for the second time in less than a week. He warned that petrol and diesel price hikes would cascade into higher costs for vegetables, food, milk, and other essential commodities, and that cooking gas cylinder prices would rise further. 'Instead of work from home, they (BJP) will soon announce 'no work',' he said, in a parting jibe at the ruling alliance.
Political Context
The remarks come amid a broader opposition campaign ahead of Uttar Pradesh's electoral cycle, with the SP seeking to consolidate minority and marginalised-community votes against the BJP. The namaz-on-roads controversy has been a recurring flashpoint in the state, with the Yogi administration having previously directed police to ensure public roads are not used for prayers. Critics argue the enforcement has been uneven; the government maintains it is a neutral public-order measure.
Point of View
But it sidesteps the harder question: whether the SP, if in power, would enforce a genuinely religion-neutral public-space policy. The namaz controversy has persisted precisely because neither side wants a principled resolution — the BJP benefits from the optics of enforcement, the SP from the optics of victimhood. Yadav's pivot to fuel prices and small-trader distress is the more substantive charge; petrol-diesel hikes twice in a week are a verifiable economic event, and their downstream effect on food prices in a state as large as UP is real. That argument tends to get buried under the louder culture-war framing, which may suit both parties heading into the next electoral cycle.
NationPress
12 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Akhilesh Yadav say about the namaz ban on public roads?
Akhilesh Yadav questioned the Yogi Adityanath government's opposition to namaz on public roads by asking whether the government would also stop press conferences held outdoors. He argued that the Constitution guarantees equal rights to every citizen regardless of religion.
Where did Akhilesh Yadav make these remarks?
Yadav made the remarks at a bhandara event in Lucknow's Hazratganj area on 19 May, where he was distributing prasad during Jyeshtha month celebrations.
What did Akhilesh Yadav say about law and order in Uttar Pradesh?
Yadav alleged that the Yogi government's law-and-order record amounts to little more than high-profile police encounters, while crimes against women and girls continue in Lucknow. He called on the state government to publicly release data on crimes against Dalits and women.
How did Akhilesh Yadav connect fuel prices to the broader political attack?
Yadav warned that the second fuel-price revision in under a week would push up costs for vegetables, food, milk, and cooking gas. He also linked PM Modi's reported appeal against gold purchases to unemployment among goldsmiths, framing both as evidence of economic mismanagement by the BJP.
What is the background to the namaz-on-roads controversy in Uttar Pradesh?
The Yogi Adityanath administration has previously directed police to prevent the use of public roads for prayers, framing it as a public-order measure. Critics, including the SP, argue the enforcement has been selectively applied against Muslims, while the government maintains the policy is religion-neutral.
