SP cycle yatra rolls from Maya park

On the day the Allahabad high court cancelled land acquisition in three villages of Greater Noida, the Samajwadi Party (SP) launched its campaign in western Uttar Pradesh for the 2012 assembly elections with a cycle rally and Kranti Rath Yatra from Noida to Agra.

On the day the Allahabad high court cancelled land acquisition in three villages of Greater Noida, the Samajwadi Party (SP) launched its campaign in western Uttar Pradesh for the 2012 assembly elections with a cycle rally and Kranti Rath Yatra from Noida to Agra.

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On Friday morning, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's son Akhilesh Yadav, the party's state unit president, flagged off the rally from Noida's Film City. The rally would pass through Dankaur in Greater Noida, Jevar and Tappal - landmarks in the farmers' agitation against land acquisition in the state.

The campaign, which coincides with the setback for the Mayawati government following the court ruling, is also expected to counter the attention drawn to the land acquisition row by the Congress.

In July, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi had held a padyatra along the Yamuna Expressway, providing moral support to the agitating farmers.

The SP action also comes on the heels of Congress efforts to forge an alliance with Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal, which has also been supporting the farmers' cause.

At the rally, however, Akhilesh Yadav remained silent on the farmers' issue, choosing to train his guns instead on the waste of public money by chief minister Mayawati on statues.

Yadav, who arrived at 10.14am near the Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal, the newly inaugurated park containing the statues of Mayawati, said: "She has wasted crores of rupees on Noida and Lucknow parks. It is shameful that she is installing her own statues." Riding atop the Kranti Rath bus, he said: "Corruption is at the peak in the state. She (Mayawati) is using money power to come to power."

The 2,000 cycles of the SP rally caused traffic jams from Sector 14A till the Film City.