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Akhilesh Yadav starts SP's poll campaign with Vijay rath, lashes out at BJP
The former CM said his party would focus on farmers, youth and their problems during the rath yatra, the first leg of which will end on October 13
Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday launched his party’s ‘Mission 2022’ poll campaign with a rath yatra, and lashed out at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying it had “crushed farmers” and on return to power in Uttar Pradesh, would “crush the Constitution” as well.
“The Samajwadi Vijay Rath will run from Ganga to Yamuna. We are starting this yatra with the blessings of Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav). We have come out to seek the cooperation and support of the public. The people of UP have been cheated by the BJP government…a change is inevitable,” said the former chief minister while kick-starting the rath yatra from Kanpur’s new Ganga bridge. The yatra will cover all 403 assembly segments ahead of the 2022 state polls.
In an apparent reference to the October 3 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed, Yadav said: “The BJP has crushed farmers, and if they come back to power, they are all set to crush the Constitution. Therefore, the Samajwadi Vijay Rath will go to the people and throw the BJP out of power.”
Stating that Uttar Pradesh is the land of farmers, Yadav attacked the BJP for “oppressing them”.
“They were promised double income but their income has been taken away. The farmers are not being given the price of their standing paddy crop,” the SP chief said.
Yadav said the state should be rebuilt and put on the path of development. “The BJP government is selling everything – from airports to ports. It won’t be a surprise, if in days to come, the government is outsourced,” he added.
The former CM said his party would focus on farmers, youth and their problems during this journey (rath yatra), the first leg of which will end on October 13. In Ghatampur, the former CM said his party would not hesitate in giving free power and water to people, if voted to power.
The yatra will pass through Kanpur, Kanpur Dehat, Hamirpur and Jalaun in the first phase. Since 2001, rath yatras have been an important part of the SP’s poll campaigns. Yadav had led the yatra in 2012 as well during the successful poll campaign after which he was sworn in as the CM.
Yadav greeted the crowd from his motorised rath (a Mercedes bus, which has been converted into a rath) and was accompanied by Khazanchi Nath, a five-year-old boy who was born in 2016 while his mother Sarvesha Devi was standing in a bank queue in Kanpur Dehat to withdraw cash during demonetisation. Waving the party flag, Khazanchi flagged off the yatra, which halted at Hamirpur where a meeting was held.
Rejecting Akhilesh’s allegations, state minister and senior BJP leader Sidharth Nath Singh said: “No vijay yatra will be able to fulfil Akhilesh’s dream of ‘acquiring power’. Those who failed to serve people and handed over the state’s honour and dignity to criminals and goons, have no right to be in power.”
