Uttar Pradesh: Akhilesh Yadav's Unnao visit a ‘shankhnaad’ against BJP, says Samajwadi Party

LUCKNOW: When Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav visited Unnao on Wednesday to unveil the statue of Nishad leader Manohar Lal, the event was seen as an attempt of the party to reach out to the Nishad community. That the former UP CM embarked on his ‘rath’ to reach Unnao has left political adversaries guessing if the event was the launch of Akhilesh’s Rath Yatra for 2022 polls.
The party officially described Akhilesh’s visit to Unnao as Shankhnaad against the ruling BJP and the SP chief said it was just the beginning of a series of “similar events” that were lined up for the near future. “His Rath Yatra will become more regular once he is through with the monsoon session of Parliament which will conclude on August 2,” said member of team Akhilesh.
SP leaders describe SP chief’s Unnao visit as a “short trip with a strong message”. “Manohar Lal was an MLA and MP who always worked to bring together non-Yadav other backward class (OBCs) to the extent that he got his sons married to Lodh families. He was a social reformer in his own right and so Akhilesh’s visit had a social cause to it,” said a senior SP leader.
Party insiders say this time owing to restrictions in wake of the pandemic, the SP chief decided to start visiting different parts of the state by his ‘rath’ which will not appear as the typical ‘rath’ that he embarked with much fanfare in the runup to 2017 assembly elections. Political analysts, however, see Akhilesh’s Rath yatra to Unnao as an attempt to discredit the narrative where opposition parties are being targeted for not hitting the road on issues that they prefer to tweet about. “Such Rath Yatras by the SP chief will surely put an end to the attacks from the ruling BJP that opposition is only visible on twitter,” said a political observer.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party on Friday appointed Leelawati Kushwaha as the state president of the party’s women wing. Former chairperson of State Women Commission Zareena Usmani and Rachna Kori of Amethi were appointed as two state vice president of the wing. Col (retd) Sharad Saran was appointed state president of party’s Sainik Prakosht .