'UP ke ladke' Akhilesh & Rahul together again after 7 years for Congress' Nyay Yatra

Lucknow: Seven years after they held a roadshow together in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi joined hands once again and held an roadshow in Uttar Pradesh's Agra town on Sunday. The two leaders' roadshow, who were seven years ago referred to as ''UP ke Ladke'', is being perceived as a show of strength ahead of the forthcoming general elections.

Within days of sealing the seat-sharing deal with the Congress, Akhilesh joined Rahul's ongoing 'Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra' at Agra. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was also present at the yatra.

Addressing the people, Akhilesh said that their fight was to "save" the Constitution. ''Our fight will succeed only if the BJP is defeated....BJP will lose power in the next LS polls and I.N.D.I.A. block members will form the next government,'' he added.

''Agra is the city of love (Taj Mahal, the monument of love)....we are here to spread the message of love....the youths, farmers, backwards, Dalits, minorities...all sections of the society are fed up with the BJP government,'' Akhilesh said.

Speaking at the meeting, Rahul said that the farmers would be given legal guarantees over the MSP if the opposition alliance formed the next government at the Centre after the LS polls.

Earlier, Akhilesh and Rahul garlanded the statue of Dalit ideologue B R Ambedkar and embarked on a foot-march in the streets of the town. They later climbed atop an open jeep and traversed through the roads of the city.

A large number of Congress and SP workers and leaders were present at the roadshow. Welcome arches had been erected at various places in the town and the workers and leaders jostled with each other to have a glimpse of the two leaders.

Congress and SP had contested the 2017 UP Assembly polls in alliance but they fared dismally.

The yatra would enter Rajasthan from Agra.

Congress and SP stitched an electoral alliance in the state, according to which the grand old party would contest on 17 seats, while the SP would be fielding its candidates on the remaining 67 seats.

Although Akhilesh was scheduled to join the 'Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra' in Amethi or Raebareli earlier in the week, he did not participate in the same saying that he would join the yatra only after the seat-sharing deal with the grand old party was finalised.

According to sources, the SP has offered Amethi, Raebareli, Kanpur, Jhansi, Barabanki, Sitapur, Kaiserganj, Varanasi, Amroha, Saharanpur, Gautam Budh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahar, Fatehpur Sikri, Hathras, Maharajganj and Baghpat seats to the Congress.