Video shows elephant on Agra-Lucknow Expressway; Akhilesh says he built 'strong' roads 'unlike BJP'

After a video of an elephant walking on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway surfaced on the internet, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday sought to draw a parallel between the road works undertaken during his regime and the current dispensation.

Yadav's jibe comes days after a portion of the Bundelkhand Expressway developed deep potholes due to heavy rains within a week of Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the 296-km-long road.

Sharing the 25-second-long video, Yadav tweeted in Hindi, ''It is fortunate ('ganimat') that despite restrictions, an elephant was (seen) moving on the strong Agra-Lucknow Expressway made by the SP. If it had, by mistake, strayed on the Bundelkhand Expressway, the road would have collapsed unable to bear its weight and the elephant would have been injured.'' ''Where is the security for the expressway?'' Akhilesh said.

CEO of Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority Awanish Awasthi told PTI, ''The incident took place near Agra. There was no damage (to anyone).'' He said the elephant strayed into the expressway as its mahout had stopped by to take shelter from the rain.

''The mahout then took away his elephant,'' the official said, adding no action was taken against him.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)