Lucknow: The whistle has been blown for the mega battle of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. Following Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) which have already begun campaign, the Samajwadi Party (SP) too has entered the fray on Thursday with a cycle rally.

The SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday took out a cycle march in Lucknow with a large number of party workers. The rally, which started from SP state headquarters, covered a distance of six kilometers. Enthused with the huge turnout of party workers in the cycle rally, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said that it shows people’s annoyance with the ruling BJP. He said that SP would win at least 400 seats in the coming assembly polls. It may be mentioned that the UP assembly has a strength of 403 seats only.

While talking to media before the start of rally, Akhilesh Yadav said that his party is opposing the farm bills, which are aimed at destroying agriculture in the country. He said that crime and corruption are at its peak in UP in the tenure of BJP while there is no jobs for youths in the state. He said that senior SP leader Azam Khan is being implicated in false cases and has been lodged in jail. Akhilesh said that BJP is now inducting criminals in the party.

Mocking home minister Amit Shah, Akhilesh Yadav said that the former has been claiming to fulfill the promises made in 2017 assembly polls, which is far from truth. He said that BJP leaders have not even read their own manifesto of 2017 and none of the promises was fulfilled. He said that BJP is in a bad shape in UP and it will not get candidates to contest in the coming assembly polls.

Reacting at the claims of SP chief, the spokesperson of BJP Rakesh Tripathi said that the people of UP have not forgotten the anarchy during the time Akhilesh was chief minister. He said that after a long time Akhilesh Yadav has come out of the hibernation and it is difficult for him to understand the mood of people.