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Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra: Akhilesh gets invitation, says will join
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge extended an invitation to Akhilesh to join the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on Tuesday
In a major signal indicating the Congress and Samajwadi Party alliance consolidation in INDIA bloc for U.P, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav will be seen together politically in Uttar Pradesh after a gap of eight years.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge extended an invitation to Akhilesh to join the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on Tuesday, which the latter promptly accepted.
Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will enter Uttar Pradesh on February 16. The SP chief will join the yatra in Amethi or Rae Bareli instead of Chandauli. The Yatra is scheduled to enter Uttar Pradesh from Bihar at Chandauli.
Seat-sharing talks for U.P. between the Congress and SP are likely to be finalised before the yatra enters the state.
Akhilesh extended greetings to the Congress while accepting the invitation and said he would join the yatra either in Amethi or Rae Bareli.
Yadav posted his reply to Kharge’s invitation on his X account saying: “Got your invitation to join the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Best wishes for the yatra’s success in UP.” He also wrote: “Hope that the Nyay Yatra will join the ‘PDA’ strategy of the SP while entering the state and take forward its agitation for ‘social justice and harmony’”.
“Akhilesh Yadav has received an invitation from Mallikarjun Kharge to join Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra which enters UP on February 16. Yadav has given consent to join the yatra either at Amethi or Rae Bareli,” the SP said in a statement.
SP secretary and spokesperson, Rajendra Chaudhary, said: “The date of Akhilesh ji joining the yatra will be announced based on the yatra’s entry date in Amethi or Rae Bareli”.
Earlier, on several occasions, the SP chief had said that he would expect the seat-sharing to be finalised before the yatra enters UP and then he would think about joining the yatra.
Last fortnight, Akhilesh announced 10 seats for the Congress and last week, the SP chief general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav had said that the seat-sharing between the two parties had been finalised. The SP is likely to announce a few more seats for the Congress.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) spokesman Manish Hindvi said the yatra will cover nearly 20 districts in the next 10 days (after its entry into UP) before leaving for Rajasthan.
Congress sources also say that the seat-sharing talks are going satisfactorily. The Congress will get a respectable number of seats and the seats will be announced shortly.
Meanwhile, UPCC president Ajay Rai presided over a meeting of senior party leaders to review preparations for the yatra. All India Congress Committee treasurer Ajay Maken urged partymen to cooperate and donate for the Nyay campaign to make the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra successful. All India Congress Committee general secretary (incharge UP) said the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra has come as a new ray of hope for the people.
The Samajwadi Party had allied with the Congress for the 2017 UP Assembly polls and the two leaders will again be seen campaigning together in the state. The two parties had come together to stop the BJP from winning power in Uttar Pradesh. Akhilesh was the chief minister then. However, the alliance had failed in its aim.
The Congress could only win seven seats and the SP won only 47 and was ousted from power by the BJP.
