Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday joined Congress’ ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ in Uttar Pradesh’ Agra .
Yadav joined its INDIA-bloc ally Congress’ yatra led by Rahul Gandhi after both the parties announced their alliance for upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh—which has got maximum number of Lok Sabha constituencies in the country.
Akhilesh Yadav was seen waving towards crowds sitting alongside Rahul Gandhi and another Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi.
The SP is all to contest on 63 Lok Sabha seats, while the Congress agreed to fight from 17 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress will contest Mathura and Fatehpur Sikri Parliamentary seats, while the SP will contest Agra, Firozabad, Mainpuri in Agra Division and Aligarh, Hathras and Etah in the Aligarh division - all the constituencies the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ will pass through on Sunday.
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In addition to its traditional strongholds of RaeBareli and Amethi, the Congress will field candidates from Kanpur Nagar, Fatehpur Sikri, Basgaon, Saharanpur, Prayagraj, Maharajganj, Amroha, Jhansi, Bulandshahar, Ghaziabad, Mathura, Sitapur, Barabanki, and Deoria. It has also been given Varanasi, which is Prime Minister Modi's constituency.
The coming together of the two political parties is a much-needed boost for the opposition bloc, which has struggled to stay united since its formation last June. Seat-sharing disagreements have been a major challenge.
Earlier, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had indicated that he would join Rahul Gandhi's yatra only after the seat-sharing agreement was finalised.
