SOCIAL ENGINEERING SP AND CONG STYLE

This newspaper takes a look at the changing chemistry between Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi from 17 Assembly polls to 24

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AT the roundabout in Dighiya village in Rae Bareli, Samajwadi Party leader YP Yadav is cocoordinating with party workers to welcome Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, who is on her way to attend a rally in Amethi. The cadres are enthused and the synergy is palpable.

"The alliance between SP and Congress is formidable this time. The messaging from the top has reached the last man.

We make sure that the cadres of both parties work cohesively. The camaraderie between Rahul Gandhi and our leader Akhilesh Yadav will do wonders for the alliance," says Yadav, who contested the UP assembly elections in 2022.

The leaders of both parties concur that the 2017 alliance experiment did not yield desired results. "The alliance did not work in the 2017 election the way we expected. Now our common goal is to dislodge the BJP from power. It is the need of the hour," says Uttar Pradesh Congress leader Dinesh Singh.

Though the alliance talks saw minor hiccups in the beginning, it had a smooth journey afterwards, says Singh.

"There were some issues about seat-sharing in the beginning. It was sorted out amicably. Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav held many rallies jointly in the last five phases, which received an overwhelming response," he says. The Congress leader also points out the presence of SP flags and the representation of their workers in the meetings and rallies by Congress. "Rahul and Priyanka