(This story originally appeared in on Jan 29, 2017)

LUCKNOW: In what appears to be a calculated move, the road show by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and UP CM Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday will pass through Muslim-dominated areas of old Lucknow.The route, party leaders said, has been planned keeping in mind the minority vote bank that is quite critical to the electoral success of the alliance.The road show will start from the Mahatma Gandhi Pratima at GPO and pass through Hazratganj, Kaisarganj, Aminabad, Nakkhas, Chowk and will culminate at the old city Clock Tower.Rahul's SPG personnel are already familiar with this route since the Congress vice-president had visited most of these areas when he concluded the first phase of his Kisan Yatra with a road show on September 23 last year.Both parties held meetings to review preparations ahead of the roadshow which will be followed by a joint press conference by the two leaders. Akhilesh held meetings with SP candidates from the Lucknow seats and senior politicians on Friday.Congress president Sonia's Gandhi's representative a' Gandhi's representative n her constituency Rae Bareli, K L Sharma, and UP PCC chief Raj Babbar held a meeting with their party members on Saturday.Sunday's road show will formally launch the joint campaign slogan of `UP Ko Ye Saath Pasand Hai.' Shortly after the launch, Akhilesh is scheduled to address 11 back-to-back poll rallies in Etah, Hathras, Kasganj and Aligarh on January 30 and 31.Polling will be held in these constituencies in the first phase on February 11.On Saturday, Congress campaign manager Prashant Kishor released the first look of the joint campaign material on social media. Featuring Rahul and Akhilesh, the posters harp on the campaign slogan.Kishor's media team also launched the Facebook page of the joint campaign, where the catch line of the alliance says, “Har Insaan Jo Vikas Chahe, Un Sabko Ye Baat Pasand Hai, Cycle Sang Ab Haath Pasand Hai, UP Ko Ye Saath Pasand Hai.“The joint campaign of the SP-Congress alliance, insiders said, focuses on undercutting caste equations and highlighting the youth appeal of Rahul and Akhilesh. It makes common cause with farmers, poor and the marginalised in UP.