Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party Member of Parliament and son of party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, bicycled his way through the streets of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh on Monday to mark the conclusion of a two-week long state-wide bicycle rally.
Trailing the footsteps of his father, who had also pedaled 10kms under the hot sun, the rally's objective was to strengthen the party at the grassroots and mark the party's protest against the functioning of the year old Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition in the state.
For the young lawmaker, who made an unusual entry from environmental science engineering into politics, it was a tough exercise. Undaunted by the scorching heat, Akhilesh pedaled some 17kms through different thoroughfares of the city. He addressed several roadside meetings like his father had earlier done.
"Thousands of our party workers have been carrying out this exercise in all major cities and towns of the state, covering thousands of kilometers," he told the crowd. "The cycle rally enabled us to expose the misdeeds of the Mayawati government before the common masses of the state and I am confident that they can see Samajwadi Party as the only potent force to show BSP its right place," he said.
The idea is to fight back the 'tyranny and totalitarian regime' led by Mayawati, who has no respect for any of the pillars of democracy, including the judiciary, he said.
The young leader charged the administration of devastating all democratic norms and deliberately ignoring the legitimate interests of farmers, the working class, traders and the downtrodden. "The one year of misrule by Mayawati has thoroughly exposed her real intentions to ransack the economy of the state," he said.
Akhilesh was cheered by thousands of youth who followed him all along the route. Donning red caps and dressed in white kurta-pyjamas, they raised anti-Mayawati slogans as they pedaled their way for nearly four hours behind their leader through Lucknow's streets.