By IANS,
Lucknow: Samajwadi Party party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son Akhilesh Yadav Monday set out on a three-month road-trip across Uttar Pradesh to highlight the Mayawati regime’s “corruption” and inform the people about his party’s promises, if it was voted to power.
The three-month-long “rath-yatra”, which takes a cue from Mulayam Singh’s own “Kranti Rath” in the late 1980s and early 1990s, would cover the entire state in a phased manner.
“Well, while exposing the corruption that prevails at all levels under the Mayawati government, we also intend to tell the people of all that our party has in store to offer to them,” Akhilesh told reporters before seeking the blessings of his father as well as other senior party leaders who gathered at the party headquarters here for the formal send-off.
While Mulayam Singh chose not to address the gathering, his deputies Mohan Singh and Azam Khan gave long speeches to inspire Akhilesh and his youth brigade that was in full gear to follow the special “rath” on cars and motorcycles.
Hailing Akhilesh as the future of Samajwadi Party, Mohan Singh expressed hope that he would prove his mettle by not merely exposing the “demonish” face of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government but by also ensuring the ouster of the BSP from power.
Azam Khan was of the view that since Akhilesh had imbibed all the combative qualities of his father, he would be the “nemesis of the BSP in Uttar Pradesh”.
Accusing Mayawati of “not only betraying the cause of Dalits and other downtrodden castes, but also that of OBCs (Other Backward Classes) and minorities,” he sought to warn Muslims against the BSP supremo by highlighting her past bonhomie with communal forces.
With hundreds of cars and motor-cycles trailing Akhilesh’s “rath”, the “yatra” meandered its way to Kanpur almost at a snail’s pace. The 83-km distance took almost the whole day to negotiate as party activists, donning red caps, had assembled at short intervals all along the highway where Akhilesh halted for a while.
Making a night-halt at Kanpur, Akhilesh’s ‘rath’ will traverse through the streets of Kanpur on Tuesday. He would return to Lucknow on Wednesday after covering Unnao during the day.
The next phase of the ‘rath-yatra’ would cover Rae Bareli, Sultanpur and some other neighbouring districts of Lucknow between Sep 19 and 24.