Thanks but no thanks: Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati on Bharat Jodo Yatra invite
LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday thanked Rahul Gandhi for inviting him to participate in the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra. He expressed hope that the event will help the Congress achieve the aim of “safeguarding the inclusive secular credentials of the country” but remained mum on if he would attend the yatra at any point during its UP leg that begins on Tuesday.
BSP national president Mayawati also conveyed best wishes to the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi. In a tweet, Mayawati thanked Rahul Gandhi for inviting her to join the Bharat Jodo Yatra. However, Mayawati has decided not to join the campaign. Last week, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid had called up Mayawati and invited her to take part in the Congress’s Yatra.
The development comes days after Akhilesh likened Congress with the BJP saying the two were the same. Rahul had got back at Akhilesh saying that SP does not have a national framework.
In a letter addressed to Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh wrote: “Thanks for your invitation and best wishes for the success of the Bharat Jodo campaign. More than a geographical stretch, India is an expression of creative elements like love, non-violence, compassion, co-existence and amity. Hope this yatra achieves its goal of preserving this inclusive culture of our country.” The letter dated January 2, however, is silent on whether he would attend the event.
Samajwadi Party’s chief spokesperson and secretary Rajendra Chaudhary told TOI that possibilities of him attending the event are very remote. “Our national president’s day-to-day schedule is already full for most of the month of January. Till now, there is no talk of anyone else from the party attending the Congress Yatra,” he said.
He said the SP chief’s letter to Rahul was a courtesy response to an invite that the grand old party had sent and there was nothing more to it. “One should keep in mind that SP and Congress are two different political entities which have their own ideologies and programmes. The SP will continue to stick and follow the ideology and principles that it has been since its inception,” he said
Recently, when asked about his plans to participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Akhilesh had maintained that he had not received any formal invitation for the event by then. He had remained non-committal on if he would participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra when it enters UP.
Akhilesh had, however, attacked the Congress saying that the SP’s ideology is different from that of the Congress. “Congress and BJP are the same,” he had said, talking to the media on Thursday at a press conference. The two parties have been throwing salvos at each other since.
A day later Rahul Gandhi got back at the former UP chief minister saying that the SP does not have a national framework. On Sunday, Akhilesh, in a press statement, had said that the Samajwadi Party maintains a national outlook and has been making strong interventions in the national interest keeping a keen eye on developments in the country.
