Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav Tuesday said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister is “terrified” of him and because of this he stopped him from taking a flight to Allahabad where he was scheduled to address an event organised by students of the Allahabad University.

Akhilesh said he was stopped by security personnel at the Lucknow airport and alleged that this was done under the instructions from Yogi Adityanath.

“The Uttar Pradesh Police cannot enter the airport because it is manned by the central forces. But becasue of the UP government’s power, the police entered the airport and detained me,” Akhilesh Yadav said in a press conbference.

He said: “I had to speak at an event organised by the students union of Allahabad University. This was a pre-scheduled event.”

He also took to Twitter to slam the Yogi government. He said, “The UP government is so scared that it stopped me from attending the oath-taking ceremony of studnet leader at Allahabad University.”

In another tweet, Akhilesh Yadav said he was detained “wothout any written orders”.

“I was prevented from boarding the airplane without any written orders. Currently detained at Lucknow airport. It is clear how frightened the government is by the oath ceremony of a student leader. The BJP knows that youth of our great country will not tolerate this injustice anymore,” he wrote.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati joined Akhilesh yadav in hitting out at the BJP. In a tweet Mayawati said detention of Akhilesh yadav at the Lucknow airport by the Yogi Adityanath government is “highly condemnable” and reflects the BJP’s “dictatorial tendencies”.

In Delhi, Samajwadi Party MPs took up the matter in the Rajya Sabha, forcing an adjournment.

On the othe rhand, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath in a statement said the Samajwadi Party should stop its “anarchist” activities.

“Allahabad University requested that Akhilesh Yadav’s visit may create law and order problem because of the dispute between student organisations. Hence the government took this step,” Yogi Adityanath was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Responding to chief minister’s statement, Akhilesh Yadav said the Yogi government is using this as a “cover to hide its nervousness”. “If there was a genuine problem, the police there would have objected, or asked for a change in my schedule,” he said.

In a written statement that he posted on his Twitter handle, Akhilesh Yadav said: “To be stopped from speaking, asking questions that are on everyone’s lips, to be prevented from engaging with the youth, is another clear sign of scared the government is.”