Akhilesh Yadav to start cycle yatra on Khajanchi's birthday in Dec

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who was to hit the road on a bicycle this month in the run up to 2019 Lok Sabha polls, has deferred the yatra and will embark on it on the birthday of two-year-old 'Khajanchi'.

Khajanchi was the name given to a boy who was born when his mother went into labour while standing in a long ATM queue to withdraw money after demonetisation. Subsequently, the SP chose him as the yatra's face to drum up support for the party.

'Khajanchi' means cashier in Hindi.

As per the original plan, Yadav was to formally kickstart party's Lok Sabha election campaign from Kannauj on September 19 by riding a bicycle and flagging off the over 40-km 'Haq and Samman Yatra'.

Khajanchi was born in Kannauj.

"As party workers are also on a cycle yatra, I'm deferring my yatra. One such cycle yatra is underway from Ghazipur to New Delhi. I will start the yatra on Khajanchi's birthday (December 2)," Yadav said.

Cycle is the election symbol of the Samajwadi Party.

The cycle yatra was to be led by the SP chief from Kannauj, the constituency from where he will contest the Lok Sabha polls, to Agra Expressway to highlight the "failures" of the ruling BJP at the Centre and showcase his own party's development vision.

The Samajwadi Party had celebrated the first birthday of Khajanchi last year to highlight the "failure of note ban" and this year on his second birthday, the party chief will flag off the yatra.

Khajanchi, who resides in a village in Kanpur Dehat, was born to Sarvesha Devi at the Jhinjhak branch of Punjab National Bank. The bank employees had named him Khajanchi, a person who looks after treasury.

The SP chief had been helping Khajanchi's family financially and had given them Rs 2 lakh. He has also carried out a number of development work at his village through party MLCs' funds.

"The party workers have already hit the road on cycle and the party chief is also meeting workers on daily basis at party office. When he takes out the cycle yatra it will rejuvenate the party rank and file," SP MLC Rajpal Kashyap said.

"People of the state are fed up with the present regime as nothing is happening on the ground. We samajwadis (socialists) will continue to raise the voice of the common man and 2019 will be crucial in this regard. The people have made up their mind against the BJP and will show their power in the Lok Sabha polls," he said.