Akhilesh greets Rahul on birthday, UP Cong workers distribute roses to share 'love'

Lucknow, Jun 19 (PTI) Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday extended birthday wishes to Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi while Congressmen in Uttar Pradesh distributed fruits in ashram and gave roses to passersby to share "love".

Born on June 19, 1970 in New Delhi, Gandhi represents the Raebareli constituency in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha.

Yadav, whose party is a key constituent of the opposition INDIA bloc, shared a message in Hindi on his official account on social media platform X to wish the former Congress president on turning 55.

"Heartfelt birthday greetings to Shri Rahul Gandhi ji and best wishes for a harmonious, inclusive and accommodating socio-political activism," he said.

Congress leaders, including UP in-charge Avinash Pande and state president Ajay Rai, distributed fruits and food at a leprosy ashram in Lucknow to mark Rahul Gandhi's birthday. They engaged with the inmates and assured support to them.

Rai also extended birthday wishes on X, praising Gandhi's "compassionate and resolute leadership", and invoked Lord Shiva for his long life.

Party workers in the state capital handed roses to passersby at key city junctions and held posters that read "Nafrat Mitao, Mohabbat Baanto" (erase hate, share love) to spread Gandhi's message.

In Amethi, Congress workers celebrated the occasion by cutting cakes at the district office and in Dalit-dominated Mishrauli village, where women and children joined the event.

The local unit of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the Congress' students' wing, also launched a monthly cleanliness campaign across colleges in the district. The campaign will be observed on the 19th of every month in Gandhi's honour.

Congress workers across all blocks in the Amethi parliamentary constituency also marked the occasion with similar events.

Gandhi was elected as Amethi's representative in Parliament in 2004, 2009 and 2014. He lost the 2019 polls. PTI KIS KSS KSS