Akhilesh to lead Lucknow phase of SP’s ‘PDA yatra’

Lucknow: Taking a head start in formally launching the party’s campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav will join the Lucknow leg of party’s longest ever ‘Desh Bachao Desh Banao Cycle Yatra’ on Monday. The event is aimed at showcasing the party's commitment towards the PDA – Pichade (Backward classes), Dalits and Alpsankhyak (minorities).The SP chief will join the bicycle yatra near Purvanchal Expressway at Chandsarai village intersection and cycle with them for 20 kilometers to reach Janeshwar Mishra Park. Thereafter, the ‘PDA Yatra’ will continue with its onward march. The path that Akhilesh’s yatra will cover has been carefully selected by party strategists and will pass through a host of development projects that were launched during the five years of the SP government with Akhilesh Yadav as the chief minister, starting 2012.The Lucknow leg of the yatra will start from Purvanchal Expressway to pass through Kabirpur and Indira canal bridge to reach Kisan Path. From there, the yatra will move towards Amul Plant, Cancer Hospital trisection, HCL gates, Ekana stadium and police headquarters to reach gate number 7 of Janeshwar Mishra Park.“Be it the Purvanchal Expressway, Amul plant, Cancer Hospital or Ekana stadium, one-of-its-kind police headquarters or the Janeshwar Mishra park – all of them come up during the SP government led by Akhilesh Yadav as the CM. The yatra aptly underlines the development agenda of Samajwadi Party,” explained a senior party functionary.With the party’s election symbol being a bicycle, ‘cycle yatras’ have been an important part of the party’s protests and election campaigns alike. From SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav to party national president Akhilesh Yadav – all have pushed the paddle along with senior party leaders, including Shivpal Yadav. In August 2021, he led a massive bicycle rally in Lucknow to protest against the BJP government’s failure to address rising crime and growing unemployment. On March 12, 2021, Akhilesh took out a cycle yatra in Rampur to protest against “false criminal cases” that were allegedly heaped on the party’s Muslim face Azam Khan.The ‘Desh Bachao Desh Banao Cycle Yatra’ was flagged off from Prayagraj on August 9 to mark the ‘August Kranti Diwas’. The first leg of the yatra will end in Safai on November 22 to mark MSY’s birth anniversary. Abhishek Yadav, who is leading the yatra, said the second phase will start on December 6 to mark Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar’s death anniversary. “We plan to end it at Jantar Mantar in the national capital on January 26,” he said.