Akhilesh Yadav Joins Rahul Gandhi's Yatra Days After Finalising Seat-sharing Deal

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who helped finalise the deal between the two parties that have long been on ice, was also present. All three addressed the crowd which had gathered in Agra as Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav joined hands to present a united front.

Till now, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav is the only alliance leader to have joined the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

Akhilesh Yadav said: “In the coming days, the biggest challenge is to save democracy, and the Constitution, to fulfil the dreams of Dr B.R. Ambedkar that have been ruined by the BJP... Today, there is only one message to be given – ‘BJP hatao, desh ko bachao, sankat mitao’ (Remove BJP, save the country and end the crisis).” He added that he was hopeful the INDIA bloc and PDA (pichre, Dalit and alpashankhak) will work to defeat the BJP-led NDA in the coming days.

Rahul Gandhi thanked Akhilesh Yadav and all SP leaders and workers for participating in the yatra. He said that a new message has gone across that the INDIA bloc together will defeat the BJP, which was trying to divide the country. He said the greatest fight right now for the INDIA bloc was against the hatred and disharmony being spread by the BJP, as he asserted that India was “a country of love, and not hatred”.

Rahul Gandhi said the INDIA alliance’s top priority was to stand against hate and defeat it. The former Congress president said that this was a battle for social and economic justice that the INDIA bloc was fighting together. He said he had found that the root cause of hate was injustice that was meted out to an overwhelming majority of people in the country. He said the backwards, Dalits, the minorities and the Adivasis together constituted about 90 per cent of the country’s population and still their representation and participation in different sectors was nil or negligible.

In the last couple of days, the Congress has sealed seat-sharing deals with two strong alliance partners of the INDIA bloc -- the Samajwadi Party and the Aam Aadmi Party.