In a bid to turn up the heat for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections next year, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav will begin his campaign for a third front government by addressing 18 rallies across UP.
The first rally would be held in Azamgarh on 29 October.
The state parliamentary board sketched an elaborate electoral road map for the SP chief on Wednesday, reported PTI.
The announcement came just days after SP and Janata Dal United confirmed talks on a third front government post the 2014 elections.
"Third Front will be formed after 2014 polls. Neither Congress nor BJP, it will be the Third Front that will get numbers in 2014 and form the next government. A Third Front will be formed after the elections. We are holding talks in this regard with Prakash Karatji and AB Bardhanji," Mulayam had said.
The SP president has directed party workers to ensure that people cast their votes in the state. A state core committee will be formed to oversee party's electoral preparations for the 2014 elections.
Mulayam has reportedly asked his party leaders to increase awareness among villagers and farmers of the welfare schemes undertaken by SP-led state government.
With 80 Lok Sabha seats, UP is the key battleground state for any prime ministerial candidate including Mulayam, who expects himself to lead the secular third front if it comes to power in 2014.
Till now, Mulayam has maximum number of rallies planned in the state. While Congress has eight rallies worked out for its vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who addressed the public in Aligarh and Rampur on Wednesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has planned nine rallies for Modi.
Modi will address his first UP rally in Kanpur on 19 October.
