Samajwadi Party MLA Mata Prasad Pandey on Saturday claimed that he was barred from leaving his home in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow to visit Bareilly district, where clashes broke out on September 26.

On Friday, the Samajwadi Party had announced that a 14-member delegation of party MPs, led by Pandey, would travel to the district following the incident, which took place when a crowd carrying “I love Muhammad” posters clashed with police outside a mosque in the Kotwali area.

Pandey claimed that the district magistrate told him that his visit would “spoil the atmosphere” in Bareilly.

He said: “We don’t spoil any atmosphere, the administration is not letting us go there to hide its own shortcomings.”

Pandey called the situation “completely unfortunate and undemocratic ”.

The

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