Akhilesh Yadav to join Rahul Gandhi's Yatra in Agra: Why it's significant?
Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party will contest on 63 seats, while Rahul Gandhi's Congress will contest on 17 seats in Uttar Pradesh.
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav will join senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday afternoon, February 25. This comes days after the two parties ended their deadlock over seat sharing in Uttar Pradesh and confirmed an alliance.
The SP will contest on 63 seats, while the Congress agreed to fight from 17 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. According to the seat-sharing formula, then Congress will contest Mathura and Fatehpur Sikri parliamentary seats, while the SP will contest Agra, Firozabad, Mainpuri in Agra Division and Aligarh, Hathras and Etah in the Aligarh division - all the constituencies the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ will pass through on Sunday.
Why is Akhilesh Yadav joining the Yatra significant?
Akhilesh Yadav's decision to join the Congress's ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ comes off as a strong political move for the opposition ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The collaboration of the two parties displays unity among the opposition. This will also be a repeat of a similar scene seven years ago in Agra when both Gandhi and Yadav covered a 12 km roadshow on February 3, 2017.
Also read: Kamal Nath urges people to support Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra
Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra
The ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ resumed on Sunday from Jamalpur in Aligarh and will reach Gandhi Tiraha in Hathras by noon. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is also accompanying Rahul Gandhi in the state.
Addressing an event in Aligarh on Sunday morning, Rahul Gandhi said, “During my first (Bharat Jodo) yatra, I asked people why hatred is being spread in India. Vote bank politics is not the reason... People told me that the reason is 'anyay'. 'Anyay' is being done to poor and farmers 24/7 across the country. 'Anyay' is also being done to farmers, small businessmen, youth, and women. That's why we added the word 'nyay' to our second (Bharat Jodo Nyay) yatra.”
The Yatra is covering a distance of 6,713 km, straddling 100 Lok Sabha constituencies and 337 assembly segments and covering 110 districts. After Uttar Pradesh, the march will move to Madhya Pradesh, followed by Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra, and conclude in Mumbai on March 20 after a span of 67 days.
