Akhilesh Yadav to embark on statewide cycle yatra

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav may soon embark on a statewide cycle yatra to mobilise party cadres.

The route chart for the yatra is currently being worked out.

Yadav, elated at the results of the recent by-elections where his party won three out of 11 seats and ranked in the second position in five seats, wants to sustain the momentum till the 2022 Assembly elections.

The party did not only manage to retain its Rampur seat, but also bagged the Zaidpur and Ambedkar Nagar Assembly seats in the by-elections.

The last time Akhilesh Yadav had embarked on a cycle yatra in the state was in 2012 after which the party came to power with a comfortable majority.

"The cycle yatras are extremely lucky for the party. Whenever the party president has embarked on a cycle yatra, the party has bounced back to power," said former minister Arvind Singh Gope.

According to the party sources, Akhilesh Yadav will go around all the 75 districts of the state and will interact with party workers and the local people. The SP chief will be addressing issues concerning farmers, students, and the youth during his statewide  cycle yatra.

The SP, which has established itself as the primary opposition party in the state, wants to be seen as the main challenger to the ruling BJP.

After the SP's debacle in the Lok Sabha elections, Akhilesh Yadav had disbanded all frontal organisations and the state committee of the party.

Preparations are now underway to announce the district level committees of the party and its youth organisation.

"We will strengthen the organisation at Vidhan Sabha constituency level and ensure that we can reach up to the village level and people to understand the reality," Akhilesh Yadav said.

Terming the victory of the SP candidates in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra as people's mandate to save democracy, Yadav asserted that it was an indication of public anger against the faulty and anti-people policies of the BJP.

"The SP won in Rampur, Jalalpur and Zaidpur constituencies despite the partisan conduct of the district administration and misuse of official machinery. SP candidate Tazeen Fatima won despite the BJP's one-point agenda to defeat her. The BJP has been pursuing  politics of vendetta and is harassing the SP workers by registering false cases against them, but we will continue our protest against its misrule," he further said.

Akhilesh Yadav said that the people have voted against the politics of hatred, casteism and corruption.