The field outside the sprawling bungalow at 5, Kalidas Marg has hosted many cricket matches over the years where Akhilesh has been the Man of the Match, leading the CM's XI to thumping victories against the IAS XI.
Coming days after the rift within the Yadav clan set off speculation of a split in the Samajwadi Party, the rath yatra will mark more than the declared agenda of an electoral campaign. In the ongoing battle for the reins of power, it will be a chariot for ‘Warrior Akhilesh’.
Team Akhilesh is leaving no stone unturned to make the start of the yatra a success as it is also a test of the Chief Minister’s popularity both within and outside the party. The fact that it comes two days before the party marks its silver jubilee at a grand event is an added pressure to make it a roaring success. A clarion call has been sounded for Akhilesh’s supporters across all districts to mobilise behind the leader.
Senior Cabinet minister and Akhilesh's key aide Rajendra Chowdhry, however, says the yatra has nothing to do with the leadership question within the party. He, in fact, says there is no such power tussle within the party. “There is no dispute within the party. Both the rath yatra on November 3 and the silver jubilee function on November 5 will be a grand success.”
He, however, sidesteps a key question: Will party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav flag off son Akhilesh's yatra? All Chowdhry says is: “All senior leaders will grace the event”.
However, symbolising last month’s uncomfortable truce, brokered by Mulayam between Akhilesh and Shivpal, it is the Janeshwar Mishra Trust at the Bandariya Bagh which is more abuzz with preparations for the yatra than the Samajwadi Party office on Vikramaditya Marg.
On Day One, the yatra will cover 70km to conclude at Shuklaganj in Unnao.
Riding a Mercedes Benz Bus, which will be customised as the 'vikas se vijay rath’, CM Akhilesh will be using an in-built hydraulic lift to address his supporters.
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