Protests In Uttar Pradesh Over Award To Abhishek

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Abhishek,who will be presented the 500,000 award in Lucknow on Monday , is the fourth member of the Bachchan family to get it . Mulayam Singh has already honoured his grandfather , the late Harivansh Rai Bachchan , and his actor parents Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan.

Some students termed it as "advance quid pro quo" towards future participation of the Bachchans in the Samajwadi Party election campaign during the assembly polls next year specially in view of the recent drubbing in the civic polls .

"This is not Mulayam's private fiefdom ; the award of Rs 500,000 is out of the taxpayer's money,which cannot be squandered away in such a manner," said Bajrang Singh , president of the Lucknow University Students Union.

"I wish to know what is Abhishek's contribution to Uttar Pradesh?" he asked and added that that the award seem to be a "family right" of the Bachchans and that many talented artists have been ignored . Student activists are also planning to stage black flag demonstrations on Monday.

Said BJP's state union president Kesri Nath Tripthi- "The basic criterion for selecting a Yash Bharti awardee is that the person must be born in Uttar Pradesh and that he should have contributed to the state in some manner . Abhishek does not fulfill any of these criteria,"Tripathi said.

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