Akhilesh-Rahul take out road show in Lucknow

LUCKNOW: It was flowers, rose petals and garlands all the way for Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav who today held a 12 km long road show here that reflected the new found bonhomie between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party. Boosting the morale of their supporters and signalling unity, the two leaders atop the 'UP Vijay Rath' started the road show from the GPO park in Hazratganj after garlanding the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. The specially designed Rath had pictures of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, and the alliance's catch line 'UP ko yeh saath pasand hai'. The leaders, who were surrounded by security personnel, greeted people on streets and atop buildings from a platform on the vehicle's roof. The Rath moved along with hordes of Congress and SP workers who raised slogans and showered flower petals on the leaders amid the beating of drums and songs eulogising the two parties. The road show covered some densely populated areas of the state capital spanning the old Lucknow localities, which have a sizable Muslim population. The meandering route was planned in such way that the message of the alliance reached a cross-section of people and large section of population. The two leaders earlier addressed a joint press conference and ended the road show with a public meeting at the historic 'Ghanta Ghar' in the Chowk area of Lucknow. The Congress workers were clearly outnumbered by Samajwadi Party supporters as they raised slogans pitching for Yadav, like "Jai Akhilesh, Phir se Akhilesh". The 12-km-long road show began from Hazratganj and will take the two leaders to various parts of the city during the day. Both the leaders held their first joint show, with Rahul likening their alliance to "Ganga-Yamuna milan". "Ek tarah se yahan Ganga-Yamuna ka milan ho raha hai, progress ki Saraswati isme se niklegi. (This alliance is the coming together of Ganga-Yamuna. The Saraswati of progress will emerge from this)," he said. "This is an alliance of three Ps -- Progress, Prosperity and Peace -- to fight the politics of anger, creating divide and making false promises," he said. Gandhi said the alliance would "fight fascist forces" such as the Bharatiya Janata Party and its ideological parent, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Adding one more "P" to the Ps mentioned by Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav said: "Let me add the fourth P. This will be People's alliance." Both leaders said their personal and political relations had got better after the alliance was forged to fight the Uttar Pradesh assembly election starting on February 11. "The Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance will make Uttar Pradesh stronger," Gandhi said.