Uttar Pradesh will witness a high-voltage clash between the BJP and Samajwadi Party on November 13 when both parties storm each other’s bastions in the run-up to the Assembly elections early next year.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will launch the BJP’s campaign from Azamgarh, the parliamentary constituency of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, while the latter will address a rally in Gorakhpur, the stronghold of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Amit Shah will address a public meeting in Azamgarh after laying the foundation stone for a university, with CM Yogi Adityanath, UP BJP executive member Jainath Singh and other leaders in attendance.
Akhilesh Yadav, meanwhile, will launch the third phase of his ‘Samajwadi Vijay Yatra’ in Gorakhpur, culminating it in Kushinagar. The SP chief had held the first phase of the campaign in Kanpur, leading it through Hamirpur, Jalaun and Kanpur Dehat, while the second phase was held in Hardoi district.
The SP considers the rath yatra a lucky charm since the party had gone on to win elections whenever Akhilesh Yadav has held one. The bus that doubles up as the symbolic rath has been decorated with pictures of party patriarch and Akhilesh’s father Mulayam Singh Yadav as well as that of Rampur MP Azam Khan, party leader Ram Gopal Yadav and state president Naresh Uttam Patel. It is also embossed with the slogan ’Badon Ka Haath, Yuva Ke Saath’.
The other side of the bus carries a solo photo of Akhilesh Yadav with the slogan ‘Kisan, Gareeb, Mahila, Yuva, Karobari, Sabki Ek Awaz Hai, Hum Samajwadi’. Akhilesh, an MP, will not be contesting the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls himself and has entered into an alliance with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).
The poll banter between the two parties has intensified over the last few days, with Akhilesh Yadav referring to Yogi Adityanath as ‘Baba’ and the CM retaliating by calling him ‘babua’.
The Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections are due early next year along with Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur. The BJP had unseated the SP in 2017, bagging a whopping 312 seats in the 403-seat assembly, while the latter had to contend with just 47.
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