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Poll pitch intensifies as Akhilesh Yadav traverses Purvanchal Expressway during Samajwadi Vijay Yatra
Samajwadi Party workers assemble at many points along the route of the Vijay Yatra to welcome Akhilesh Yadav
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A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 341 km Purvanchal Expressway, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav traversed along the same Purvanchal Expressway on Wednesday after beginning his Samajwadi Vijay Yatra from Ghazipur in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
PM Modi had landed in a C-130J Super Hercules aircraft at the emergency airstrip on the expressway in Sultanpur district for its inauguration on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the SP chief declared the BJP would be voted out of power in the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
A large crowd was witnessed as people, along with party workers, assembled at many points along the route of Vijay Rath Yatra to welcome Yadav and other leaders as the yatra passed along Mau, Azamgarh, Ambedkar Nagar, Ayodhya, Amethi and Barabanki on way to Lucknow.
“Uttar Pradesh will witness a change in 2022 polls. I can see a wave of change,” said Yadav while addressing the people from atop the Vijay Rath.
After reaching venue of his first meeting along the expressway at Haidariya in Ghazipur by helicopter, Yadav rode the rath to begin his journey to Lucknow, raising the pitch of his attacks on the BJP government. Akhilesh Yadav questioned the PM for inaugurating the incomplete project. He said the BJP was taking away the credit for the developmental projects conceived by the Samajwadi Party government.
The SP’s move has evoked mixed reactions in political circles.
“This is a reflection of the level of politics the Samajwadi Party has been pursuing over the years. Instead of indulging in such politics, Akhilesh Yadav should speak about the development of Uttar Pradesh,” said UP BJP spokesman Avnish Tyagi.
Professor SK Dwivedi, former head of the department of political science at Lucknow University, said, “UP’s politics has remained focused on castes. The political parties should focus more on development than on castes. The SP should have come out with a roadmap for further development instead of targeting the BJP and claiming credit for the Purvanchal Expressway project.”
Videos released by the Samajwadi Party show the people showering garlands and flower petals on Akhilesh Yadav as he alights from a mechanically elevated platform atop the Vijay Rath.
Akhilesh Yadav, who left Ghazipur at about 12.30 pm, reached Azamgarh at about 7.30pm, the Samajwadi Party said in a tweet. In another tweet, the SP said, “Azamgarh Ka Sandesh, Aa rahe hain Akhilesh” (Akhilesh will be voted to power. This is the message from Azamgarh.”
