Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is likely to spearhead the election campaign on the strength of his own leadership and development plank and plough his lonely furrow.
Akhilesh Yadav soon after his public spat with his uncle Shivpal Yadav during a meeting at the party office on October 24 had said, “instead of focusing on infighting, he will concentrate on the campaign’. The campaign commenced on November 3 from la Martiniere School ground, in front of his official residence here.
The Akhilesh Yadav camp in the Samajwadi Party had indicated that “the yatra will send across the message that work speaks for itself and the rath yatra would reposition the ‘brand Akhilesh’ as the best choice to lead the State again.
After two rounds of his rath yatra and skipping the two rallies addressed by the party supremo Mulayam Singh, CM Akhilesh Yadav has given clear indication that he is all set to lead the campaign on his own strength and unlikely to share the dais with other leaders of the party during the campaigning for the Assembly elections.
Akhilesh Yadav has so far taken out two rounds of rath yatra. First from luck now to Unnao and second from Moradabad to Rampur. Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday announced to take out the third round of yatra in Hamirpur district of Bundelkhand region on December 15. Akhilesh Yadav has also skipped the two mega rallies addressed by his father and the party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav in Ghazipur on November 23 and at Bareilly on December 8. Unhappy with the announcement of tickets to the candidates with the shady background, the SP sources said Akhilesh Yadav is likely to keep away from those constituencies during the campaign.
SP is likely to focus its attention on eastern UP in coming days and the next rallies are planned in Deoria and Gorakhpur. Dates of both the rallies are yet to be finalised. However, the rally in Deoria is likely to held after Christmas. The ruling party leaders, however, maintain that there is no such division within the first family of the party.
“Mulayam Singh was scheduled to kick off the campaign from Azamgarh on October 6, but that rally was cancelled due to some reasons and that has delayed the schedule. Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) will address at least 6-8 mega rallies in the run up to the assembly elections’’, said the party spokesman Ambika Chowdhary. He said there was no purpose in all the leaders of the party gathering in each and every election rally of the party. As per the original schedule Mulayam Singh was to address 18 divisional rallies at each divisional headquarter.
The SP leader privy to the ongoing feud within the first family of the party said Rs Rs Mulayam Singh is very unhappy with the present state of affairs in the party and particularly concerned over the challenge to his authority from various quarters in the party’’. The leader added Rs Rs Netaji is not happy with the attempts of Akhilesh Yadav to chart out a course for himself independent from the party’’. A senior SP leader said Rs Rs come what may Mulayam Singh Yadav will never accept erosion in his authority and by organising two mega rallies in Ghazipur and Bareilly he has demonstrated that he is not only the star campaigner of the party he can also fire the imagination of the people’’. The leader added Rs Rs both the rallies were grand success without the support from the state administration or any use of the state machinery’’. SP sources said Rs Rs the mega rallies to be addressed by Mulayam Singh Yadav in east UP and other places will be huge success even as the possibility of support from the state machinery is ruled out due to the model code of conduct enforced by the election commission’’