Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav's joint public meeting a "complete flop," says UP Deputy Chief Minister

"The public knows the intentions of the India Alliance. This public meeting is a complete flop. The people of Amroha have expressed their faith in the work of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, so this time also, the rally and public meeting of this pair of boys are of no use," Pathak said.

The public meeting took place at the mini stadium near Gandhi Murti Chauraha in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh. The event marks the first joint public appearance of the INDIA bloc in the state, where both leaders appealed to the electorate for votes in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Highlighting the shifting allegiances within the electorate, Pathak remarked, "Today, a large number of people from the Yadav community in Mainpuri have come to Lucknow to give their support to the Bharatiya Janata Party. We have welcomed them. Today, the Yadav community is also angry with their work and inspired by the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party is moving forward."

Confidently talking about a resounding victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party, Pathak stated that the public is going to bring back Prime Minister Narendra Modi by voting for the party in record numbers."

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi shared the stage in Uttar Pradesh's Amroha on Saturday, where they launched a blistering attack at the ruling BJP over range of the issues including electoral bonds, farmers' issues and unemployment.

The two leaders also promised to scrap the Agniveer scheme and conduct a caste census in the state if the INDIA bloc formed government at the Centre after the Lok Sabha polls.

Earlier, after polling for eight Lok Sabha seats in the state was conducted successfully in the opening phase, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Friday said he was confident that the BJP would come out comfortable winners in all constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh.

He said the voters have, yet again, discarded an Opposition that has been trying to divide the state on the lines of caste and religion.

Along with Saharanpur, eight seats in western Uttar Pradesh, including Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Nagina, Moradabad, and Rampur, went to polls in the first phase of the general elections.

In the 2019 elections, turning the arithmetic of the SP-BSP 'Mahagatbandhan' in Uttar Pradesh upside down, the BJP and its ally Apna Dal (S) won 64 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats. The partners in the alliance, Akhilesh Yadav's SP and Mayawati's BSP, could only muster 15 seats.

The curtains went up on the festival of democracy in the country on Friday, with 102 constituencies across 21 states and Union Territories polling in the opening phase. (ANI)