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UP polls: Akhilesh says sea of people in Ayodhya indicates Samajwadi Party will form govt
Akhilesh held his road show on the last day of campaigning for the fifth phase of the UP assembly polls in which Ayodhya voters, too, will exercise their franchise on Sunday (February 27)
In a show of strength in Ayodhya town, Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday took out Vijay Yatra from Ram Ki Paidi with a visibly large crowd following the rath (campaign bus) through the narrow streets of the temple town. At the end of the campaign, Akhilesh went to the Hanuman Garhi temple and sought blessings there.
“The jan-sailaab (sea of people) in Ayodhya indicates that it will be a Samajwadi Party government in the state now,” Akhilesh Yadav said from atop the rath.
The yatra took nearly three hours to cover the eight-kilometre stretch from the Ram Ki Padi to Gandhi Maidan in Faizabad.
Akhilesh held his Ayodhya road show on the last day of the campaigning for the fifth phase of the UP assembly polls in which Ayodhya voters, too, will exercise their franchise on Sunday. He ended the campaign minutes before the 6pm deadline for the campaign.
This was the first time that a national president of the SP held a campaign in the temple town. Before this, although the SP had conducted political campaigns in the district (earlier known as Faizabad), there was none by it in the Ayodhya town itself. Even last week’s campaign by Akhilesh for the Ayodhya seats was held in Rudauli.
Former minister Tej Narain Pandey aka Pawan Pandey, the SP’s Ayodhya Sadar candidate, and a couple of saffron-robed saints travelled atop the rath with Akhilesh on Friday. Pandey had won the seat for the SP in 2012.
The rath yatra traversed through Nayaghat, Raj Sadan, Gudri Bazar and Rakabganj crossing. Originally, Akhilesh had announced his Vijay Yatra in Ayodhya on January 9, but had cancelled it due to the rising Covid-19 cases during the third wave of the pandemic.
Before the yatra on Friday, Akhilesh addressed a public meeting in Ayodhya.
He promised a hike in the circle rate in Ayodhya when his government returns to power and a waiver in house tax for people under Ayodhya municipality.
“If land in Ayodhya is taken by the government for development purposes, the circle rate would be increased and six times compensation will be given to the people,” he said.
Taking a dig at Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Akhilesh Yadav said that the CM is distributing laptops while he doesn’t know to operate one.
Yadav, while addressing an election rally in Ayodhya, said he would wipe out the BJP to save the mixed culture of Uttar Pradesh. Earlier in the day, Akhilesh also held a rally at Payagpur in Bahraich. He appealed to the people to vote against unemployment, corruption and inflation.
