Samajwadis will 'symbolically' inaugurate Purvanchal Expressway

After being denied permission to take out a 'Vijay Yatra' from Ghazipur to Azamgarh on Tuesday, the Samajwadi Party (SP) has said that it will "symbolically" inaugurate the Purvanchal Expressway by showering flower petals on it.

The district authorities have placed boulders at all entry points of the Expressway to prevent any movement in view of the inaugural ceremony which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

SP President Akhilesh Yadav was slated to take the expressway route from Ghazipur to reach Azamgarh on Tuesday, but in view of the restrictions, he has postponed the event by a day.

He will now arrive in Ghazipur on Wednesday and take the route to reach Azamgarh as a part of his 'Vijay Yatra'.

Akhilesh Yadav has directed all party units in the nine districts through which the Expressway passes, to inaugurate the same by showering petals on it.

"I am happy that the Prime Minister will inaugurate the Expressway - a project of the former SP government," he told reporters, adding that the ruling BJP cannot name a single project which its government had laid the foundation of and inaugurated it as well.

Citing an instance that took place during the BSP regime, the SP chief recalled how he had planned to cycle his way from Noida on the then newly-constructed Expressway but the government stopped him.

"We carried the bicycles on our shoulders and crossed the new expressway and inaugurated the project," he said.