SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday flagged off his son, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s rath yatra with Shivpal Yadav in tow. The main aim was to project a united face after a bitter public power struggle that threatened to derail the party’s Assembly poll campaign
Mulayam Singh Yadav arrived at La Martinere grounds – the flag off venue – soon after Akhilesh reached there. Shivpal joined them moments later.
“Akhilesh ko hum shubhkamna detey hain (I wish him well),” Shivpal said, adding the “vikas sey vijay ki aur yatra” will send a message of unity across the state and halt BJP in its tracks. “Our target is to prevent BJP from coming to power in the state in the crucial 2017 elections,” he said.
The presence of Mulayam, Shivpal and Akhilesh on one platform came days after bitter acrimony in the Yadav clan that saw no holds barred tit-for-tat sackings and expulsions of followers of warring camps
Before embarking on the highly-publicised rath yatra to highlight the development works undertaken by him during the last over four years, the 43-year-old chief minister said, “I want to thank youths for this historic event…From this yatra, we appeal to people to vote in favour of our party.”
On recent controversy within the party and family, Akhilesh said, “Due to some conspiracies we were affected a bit, but in the days to come we will be able to form government again.”
Sourced from agencies, feature image courtesy: 24 Hours
