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On campaign trail, Akhilesh, Jayant & Priyanka display some bonhomie amid cheer
While Priyanka waved from an open van, the two other leaders, who have joined hands for the upcoming seven-phased election waved back, all smiles, from their campaign bus in Bulanshahr.
A rare show of bonhomie amid the high-octane campaigning underway in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh was witnessed on Thursday when Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra waved and greeted Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Lok Dal head Jayant Chaudhary from their respective vehicles.
The greetings were shared among the top opposition leaders in the state in the midst of loud cheers and applause in Bulandshahr.
While Priyanka waved from an open van, the two other leaders, who have joined hands for the upcoming seven-phased election waved back, all smiles, from their campaign bus.
Later, both the leaders extended the gesture on Twitter as Yadav and Vadra shared images and videos strewn with popular cultural greetings. While the SP chief captioned his image “Ek dua salaam, tehzeeb ke naam”, Vadra wrote “humari bhi apko Ram Ram” along with a clipping wherein she tagged both Yadav and Chaudhary.
This is not the first time that Vadra and Yadav greeted each other with smiles in recent times and made way for a good photo-op. The duo had bumped into each other in a Lucknow-bound flight in October and even took a photo together. An aide, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, had then said they told each other that “they should meet soon”.
Functionaries of both the parties had, however, said it was a chance meeting and no political significance should be attached to the exchange of pleasantries. Such curtsies take place when two politicians meet, Congress leader Aradhana Mishra ‘Mona’ had said. On the other hand, political observers had said a chance meeting should not be ignored in politics as sometimes such an encounter may lead to serious business.
The Samajwadi Party and Congress are contesting the high-octane election to overthrow the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in the state separately. They had jointly entered the poll fray in 2017 and had broken ties after figuring out that it did not work.
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None of the parties have, however, spoken about a possible post-poll alliance if the numbers allow.
Earlier in the day, Vadra, who visited a family of rape victim in Bulandshahr, said police were trying to suppress the case. “The victim's family is being pressurised. The family is saying that gang rape has happened but the police is not paying any heed. We've assured the family and will ensure justice to them,” she was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Chaudhary said if the SP and RLD government came to power, its first priority would be to ensure the safety of women. “We are dedicated to improve the police department and bring in reforms,” he said.
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The Vadra-led Congress has been aggressively developing its campaign in the state around women empowerment with its now-trending ‘ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon’ (I am a woman, I can fight) slogan. It has also fielded a number of women as its candidates across the state.
Meanwhile, the BJP continued to reach out to Chaudhary to rethink his alliance with Yadav. Union home minister and party leader Amit Shah, who addressed a poll event at Anupshahr assembly constituency in Bulandshahr, said Yadav does not even listen to his father and uncle, there was little chance he would lister to the RLD chief.
Recently, the BJP said its doors were always open for the RLD. Chaudhary has so far rejected such overtures. The RLD has a significant presence in western UP where Jats are a deciding factor in almost all the seats.
An earlier report by the Hindustan Times had said the RLD-Samajwadi Party alliance will help in redefining political equations following the communal riots of Muzaffarnagar in September 2013 that had led to a Muslim-Jat divide on RLD’s homeground.
