Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra: A day after the Congress and Samajwadi Party finalised the seat-sharing pact for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, the party on Thursday said that its chief Akhilesh Yadav will join Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Agra on February 25.
In the afternoon, Congress leaders visited the Samajwadi Party office and extended an invitation to Yadav to participate in the yatra in Agra. Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai, senior party leader PL Punia and others visited the SP office in Luckow with the invitation letter from party president Mallikarjun Kharge.
"I have received the letter as Akhilesh Yadav is not in Lucknow. Akhilesh Yadav will join the yatra in Agra at 2 pm on February 25," SP National Secretary Rajendra Chaudhury told news agency PTI.
Congress and SP alliance
I.N.D.I.A bloc partners Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress on Wednesday finalised the seat-sharing in Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, to be held in April-May this year.
The Samajwadi Party along with other alliance partners will contest on 63 seats while Congress has been alloted 17.
Speaking on seat-sharing decision, Congress Uttar Pradesh in-charge Avinash Pande said, "I am delighted to tell you that it has been decided that in Uttar Pradesh the INC will contest on 17 seats and the remaining 63 seats will have candidates of INDIA Alliance - from SP and other parties."
According to reports, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra played a key role during the seat-sharing talks between Samajwadi Party and Congress. Sources said that it was Priyanka who initiated talks with Akhilesh Yadav while keeping Rahul Gandhi in the loop.
The Congress party was initially demanding Moradabad seat apart from others it wanted to contest on, however, it didn't press for too long on its demand in order to keep the unity of the alliance.
Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra
The yatra will resume on the morning of February 24 from Moradabad and will thereafter cover Sambhal, Aligarh, Hathras and Agra districts culminating in Dholpur in Rajasthan on Sunday.
The Congress has said February 26 to March 1 will be break days to enable Rahul Gandhi to fulfill his long-standing commitment to deliver two special lectures at his alma mater Cambridge University in the UK on February 27 and February 28, and also to enable him to attend other important meetings in New Delhi.
The yatra will once again resume from Dholpur at 2 pm on March 2. It will then cover Morena, Gwalior, Shivpuri, Guna, Shajapur, and Ujjain among other districts in Madhya Pradesh.
On March 5 at 2 pm, Rahul Gandhi will have darshan at the Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain. He last had this darshan on November 29, 2022, during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
(With agencies input)
Also Read: Lok Sabha Elections: Congress to contest 17 seats, Akhilesh Yadav's SP, others 63 in UP
Also Read: Akhilesh Yadav not to participate in Rahul Gandhi's Yatra until seat distribution for LS polls finalised
