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Amid souring ties with the Congress over the breakdown in seat-sharing talks for Madhya Pradesh, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said the ongoing bicycle rally, titled the 'Samajwadi PDA Yatra', will add for strength to the Opposition bloc -- INDIA.
Both the Congress and the Samajwadi Party are partners in the Opposition bloc. Speaking to media persons on a visit to Damoh in Madhya Pradesh on Monday, the former UP chief minister said, "PDA (pichde, Dalit and alpasankhyak) will lend more strength to the Opposition alliance. It's only the power of the PDA that can enable us to prevail over the NDA and dump the BJP out of power at the Centre. If there is a strategy that INDIA can borrow from us ahead of the battle with the NDA for the Lok Sabha then it is our PDA rally." Lashing out at the BJP-led NDA, he said, "The BJP doesn't trust democracy and believes in Loottantra instead." The SP chief added that the bicycle rally will carry on as planned, adding that he was hopeful that INDIA will win next year's Lok Sabha elections. The bicycle rally marked the launch of the SP's campaign for the next general elections. The Samajwadi Party (SP) chief had coined the term 'PDA', saying that it is the name of the unity born out of shared consciousness and feeling against the exploitation and oppression of those who are "Pichhde" (backwards), Dalit and "Alpasankhyak" (minority). The last state assembly polls in 2018 saw the Congress coming to power, with veteran leader Kamal Nath taking oath as the chief minister. However, a political upheaval rocked the state in 2020 after then-Congressman Jyotiraditya Scindia, along with 22 loyalist MLAs, switched over to the saffron camp. The Congress government fell after being reduced to a minority and the BJP formed the government, with Shivraj Singh Chouhan returning as chief minister. Madhya Pradesh will poll for its 230-member Assembly in a single phase on November 17 and the votes will be counted on December 3. (ANI)
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