UP polls: Akhilesh Yadav holds roadshow in Varanasi ahead of last phase of election

Standing atop his 'Samajwadi Rath', Yadav began his roadshow from the Rath Yatra roundabout in the pilgrim city and moved around in the areas covering the three Assembly seats -- Cantonment, Varanasi North and Varanasi South.

Varanasi: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav conducted a roadshow here late Friday (March 4) evening, a little after the conclusion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign, ahead of the March 7 polling.

Standing atop his 'Samajwadi Rath', Yadav began his roadshow from the Rath Yatra roundabout in the pilgrim city and moved around in the areas covering the three Assembly seats -- Cantonment, Varanasi North and Varanasi South. He campaigned on the route different than the one taken by Modi earlier.

Yadav was accompanied by the three candidates from these constituencies Pooja Yadav, Ashfaq Ahmad Dabloo and Kishan Dixit respectively.

The roadshow, which began at 8 pm, will cover an area stretching about 2 km and will pass through Gurubagh and Laksha and end at Gadauliya, party sources said. Akhilesh will also visit the Kashi Vishwanath temple to pay his obeisance to Lord Shiva, they said.

Despite late hours, people came out in large numbers to greet Yadav. Earlier in the day, SP's district president Vishnu Sharma had alleged that though he had sought permission from 5 pm to 10 pm for the party chief's event, the Varanasi administration permitted them to hold the event only from 8 pm to 10 pm.