INDIA ‘janbandhan’ locked and loaded: Congress after Akhilesh Yadav joins Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra

PTI

New Delhi, February 25

The INDIA “janbandhan” is locked and loaded, ready to dispel the “darkness of the anyay kaal”, the Congress said on Sunday after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav joined Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Agra.

The coming together of Gandhi and Yadav put days of uncertainty on the latter’s participation in the yatra to an end and came as a boost to the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), which has sealed key seat-sharing deals of late.

The AAP and the Congress on Saturday sealed a seat-sharing deal for Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, Gujarat, Goa and Haryana but decided to contest separately in Punjab, considering the “special circumstances” in the state.

With this, the Congress finalised its seat adjustments for 125 constituencies with INDIA bloc constituents, after recently striking an arrangement with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh.

However, challenges still remain as the INDIA bloc has to work out seat-sharing deals in the key states of West Bengal and Maharashtra.

In a post on X, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “Massive, enthusiastic, and energised crowds gathered in Agra to welcome Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and Akhileh Yadav. The leaders garlanded the statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar before taking out a historic roadshow through the heart of Agra.”                

“The INDIA janbandhan is locked and loaded, ready to dispel the darkness of the anyay kaal,” Ramesh said.

Congress and Samajwadi Party workers raised slogans in support of Yadav and Gandhi as the two leaders, accompanied by Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, waved at the crowd gathered for the yatra.

Attacking the government in his address on the occasion, Yadav said, “Today, farmers are standing against the government. The government is scared of the power of farmers. In the coming time, the BJP will be removed and the INDIA coalition government will give respect to farmers.”

He added that the BJP has not given the backward classes, Dalits and minority communities the respect they deserve.

Senior Congress leader in Uttar Pradesh Pradeep Mathur was also present on the occasion. Earlier, the leaders paid floral tributes at a statue of B R Ambedkar in Agra.

“The Agra leg of the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ has definitely proved to be an ice-breaker. The atmosphere is wonderful, workers of both parties are enthusiastic. This will definitely have a positive impact in the Lok Sabha elections for both the parties,” Mathur told PTI.

“Under the leadership of Rahulji, Priyankaji and Akhileshji, we will spring a surprise in the Lok Sabha elections,” he added. Mathur is a former Congress Legislature Party leader in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.

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