UP assembly elections: SP to win 400 plus seats, people frustrated with BJP, says Akhilesh Yadav

LUCKNOW: In a massive show of strength, Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav led a statewide Cycle Yatra in Lucknow to highlight ‘growing resentment among people’ against the ruling BJP and the failure of the government on all fronts. Thousands of SP workers accompanied the party chief on cycles behind him at the Lucknow event.
Though the Cycle Yatra, organised as tehsil level across the state, marked the birth anniversary of veteran socialist leader and founding SP member Janeshwar Mishra, political observers see it as a soft launch of the party's campaign for the 2022 assembly polls in UP.The Cycle Yatra comes a fortnight after Akhilesh embarked his ‘Samajwadi Rath’ to visit Unnao.
While Akhilesh led the Cycle Yatra in Lucknow, his wife Dimple Yadav flagged off the event in Kannauj from where she has been a member of parliament. The SP leadership had designated senior Party leaders to lead the event in each of the 75 districts of the state.
Before hitting the pedal to cover the 6.5 kilometre route to reach Janeshwar Misra park - named after one of the tallest Brahmin leaders of SP - Akhilesh recalled the party veteran’s contribution in furthering the idea of socialism in UP politics. The Cycle Yatra concluded with Akhilesh paying floral tributes at the statue of ‘Chote Lohia’ that Janeshwar was fondly referred to by fellow politicians associated with the JP movement. The Cycle Yatra coincides with the birth anniversary of Janeshwar Misra.
Addressing a press conference, which he began by congratulating the Indian hockey squad which did the country proud by winning a bronze in Tokyo Olympics earlier in the day, Akhilesh attacked the ruling BJP stating that not only the party workers but common man has also joined the Cycle Yatra to express their unhappiness with the government. “Till now we were looking at 350 seats. But looking at the growing disenchantment towards the BJP, it appears that SP will win 400 seats,” he said. Paying homage to those who died of Covid-19 infection, the SP chief trained his guns at the BJP government for its failure to help people fighting the infection. The government failed to provide oxygen and hospital beds to the needy, he said.
Attacking the BJP for welcoming Jitendra Singh Babloo, an accused in Rita Bahuguna Joshi house arson case, into the party fold, Akhilesh questioned the zero-tolerance approach of the party towards crime and criminals. “Jo party kehti thi apradhion se door rahenge , chunao aate aate apradhiyon ke kitne kareeb pahunch gaye (The party which always talked of maintaining distance from criminals, is getting cosy with them as the elections are approaching),” he said.
In an apparent reference to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s appreciation of the Yogi Adityanath government at a recent event in Mirzapur, Akhilesh said when senior leaders listed the achievements of the UP government, no one talked about how UP is leading in terms of having the highest number of malnourished children, number of dead bodies found floating in the Ganga during the pandemic, black marketing of life saving drugs, death of Covid-19 patients for lack of medical attention, rising crime against women, fake encounter and deaths in police custody.
The cycle yatra that began from Samajwadi Party headquarters, took the Kalidas Marg crossing route to reach Women Powerline 1090 intersection, Jai Prakash Narain International Centre (JPIC) and Sheroes Café to reach Janeshwar Misra park. Accompanied by cyclist Abhishek Sharma and other party leaders on cycles, Akhilesh Yadav was welcomed by party workers playing drums and dhol at different locations along the route. Some party workers who reached Lucknow from other districts carried their cycles on a mini-truck to reach the state capital to participate in the event. It remains unsaid that pandemic protocols were thrown to the wind as party workers scrambled to take part in Cycle Yatra hitting social distancing for a six. The Yatra concluded with the SP chief paying floral tributes at the statue of Janeshwar Misra to mark his birth anniversary.