Gone, Rahul Gandhi, Gone. At Partner Akhilesh Yadav's Office, He's Not On Show

A life-size cut-out of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been replaced overnight at the Samajwadi Party office in Lucknow. His replacement? Mulayam Singh, the party's 77-year-old founder, whose son Akhilesh Yadav is running for a second consecutive term as Chief Minister. His insistence on allying with the Congress was one of the reasons for an epic war between Akhilesh Yadav and his father that placed their party dangerously close to splitting ahead of the election in Uttar Pradesh, seen as a bellwether for the national election of 2019. They managed to reconcile - just about - in time for the campaign, and the Chief Minister conducted some public meetings accompanied by Rahul Gandhi, the 46-year-old Vice President of the Congress. At the Samajwadi Party office, slogans that bound the two young leaders together have also disappeared.