Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav united show: ‘We are two wheels of cycle’

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Hours later, however, SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav said he was against the alliance and would not campaign for it.

Read | Samajwadi Party capable of fighting elections alone, won’t campaign for alliance: Mulayam Singh Yadav

Stating that the alliance was the “uttar (answer)” to the “politics of anger and divisiveness”, Rahul said it would work for “progress, prosperity and peace”. The two leaders said the alliance would “defeat the ideology of the RSS and BJP”.

“Agar cycle ke do pahiye hain, to hum aur Rahulji do pahiye hain. Yeh vikas ka bhi pahiye hai, khushali ke bhi pahiye hain (Rahul and I are the two wheels of the cycle, the wheels of development and prosperity),” said Akhilesh.

“Desh mein sandesh ja raha hai, aane wale samay mein Rahulji aur hum is desh ko khushali aur taraki ke raste pe lejane ka kaam karenge.

Aur UP ko barhane ka kaam karenge (The message is being sent to the nation, Rahul and I will steer the country towards the path of progress and prosperity, and bring progress to UP),” said Akhilesh. “Cycle ke saath haath ho, aur haath ke pass cycle ho, to socho raftar kitni hogi (If the cycle and the hand are together, imagine the speed),” he said.

Asked about an alliance with the SP for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul said: “It is open for discussion. It has not been decided as of now but it is something that is a possibility.”

Making it clear that they were targeting the youth, Rahul said: “Hum UP ke yuvaon ko ek option dena chahte hai. Ek naye tarike ki ideology (We wanted to give an option to the youth of UP, a new kind of ideology).”

Asked about the hurdles in seat-sharing, especially in Rae Bareli and Amethi, Rahul said it was not a “fundamental or central issue of the alliance” and would be sorted out. “We have structured an alliance. He is going to compromise a little, I am going to compromise a little.

An alliance is about give and take… Small compromises… how many seats in Amethi, how many in Rae Bareli will be sorted out after talks,” he said.

Asked about the Congress targeting the SP government in the past, Rahul said he had said earlier too that Akhilesh is a “good boy” trying to do “good work”, but was not being allowed to work. The two leaders also focussed on the fact they “are friends and not just political allies”, and that the two parties “share much of each other’s ideologies” and goals.

Asked if Priyanka Vadra would campaign with Dimple Yadav, Rahul replied, “As far as Priyanka is concerned, she is my sister and has been of tremendous help to me as I will continue to be of help to her. She is an asset to the Congress party, and it is a decision that she has to make.”

The two leaders later held a 12-km-long joint roadshow, atop a “UP Vijay Rath” with the slogan “UP ko yeh saath pasand hai”.

Soon after the roadshow, Mulayam told ANI: “SP aur Congress ke chunavi samjhaute ke main khilaf hun aur main is samjhaute ke paksh me prachar nahin karunga… kyunki SP ne… jo kahin aise mudde hain… jinke khilaf humein sangharsh karna pada… masjid ke mamla ho aur chahe bahut saare… ek zamana aya tha jab encounter ho rahe the… hatyayen ho rahi thi… lagatar Congress ne itne saal tak raaj kiya aur usi wajah se hamara desh pichad gaya (I am against the SP-Congress poll alliance and I will not campaign for it. There are various issues on which the SP had to struggle. Whether it was the issue of mosque (Babri Masjid)… or a time when there were encounters and murders… Congress ruled for so many years, because of which the country lagged behind.)”

“Hamesha hamari raay rahi hai ki hum Congress se milkar chunav nahin ladenge… kyunki hamari SP saksham hai akele chunav ladne ke liye… Aur hum akele lade toh aya bahumat… aur jab bahumat aya, sarkar bani… toh iski awashyakta hi nahin thi (I have always held that we will not contest elections in alliance with the Congress, because the SP is capable enough to contest alone. We contested alone, won majority, and formed the government. Hence, this (alliance) was not needed.”

Earlier, asked if Mulayam and Sonia Gandhi would campaign for the alliance, Akhilesh said they had the blessings of both their senior leaders.

— With inputs from Lalmani Verma