SP chief Akhilesh Yadav skips INDIA bloc rally in Mumbai, cites poll preparations in UP as reason

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 17 : Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday skipped the mega rally of the INDIA bloc in Mumbai. The mega rally was organised at Mumbai's Shivaji Park to mark the end of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 63-day-long Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
In a letter to Rahul Gandhi, the SP chief expressed his inability to participate in the conclusion ceremony of the Yatra due to the Lok Sabha elections 2024 schedule and his preoccupation with the preparations for the upcoming nomination process, which will commence on March 20.
"The Election Commission has announced the elections yesterday, and the nomination process in Uttar Pradesh begins from 20th March. Due to the preparations for the elections, I will not be able to attend the concluding ceremony of the Yatra," Akhilesh Yadav said in his letter.
The SP Chief also praised the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in his letter.
"I am not just hopeful but fully confident that the people, including farmers, youth, backward classes, Dalits, and women, will uproot the anti-people BJP in this election. The real success of this journey will be BJP's defeat in this election," he added in his letter.
The SP Chief's letter comes a day after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections that will be held in seven phases beginning from April 19. The ECI also announced the schedule of Assembly polls in four states - Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Odisha.
Meanwhile, the INDIA bloc leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, M K Stalin, Uddhav Thackrey, Priyanka Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav, Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and several others, posed together, showcasing the 'unity' in the alliance, at the culmination of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra at Mumbai's Shivaji Park on Sunday evening.