Pedalling for polls: Akhilesh Yadav kickstarts cycle yatra in UP

With an eye on the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday embarked on a 'cycle yatra' in Lucknow to raise issues like price rise, unemployment, farm laws and crime rate.

To galvanise cadre ahead of polls, the party is organising "cycle yatra" at the tehsil-level in all districts to marks the birth anniversary of veteran socialist leader Janeshwar Mishra.

Before pedalling down the streets of the state capital, Yadav told mediapersons at the party headquarters that the BJP government has "failed" in Covid management.

"I condole death of all those who died during the second wave of Covid. The government did not help those who lost their family members. It could not arrange oxygen and medicines and left people to die," he said.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said, "I was saying that we will win 350 seats. But seeing the anger of people, I can say we can now win 400 seats".

Attacking the BJP for allegedly inducting criminals, Yadav said that as elections are nearing, the saffron party has put its ideology on the back-burner.