Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav shared on X a picture with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday and emphasised their shared commitment to protect the Constitution, reservation and social harmony.

This comes a day after Yadav announced that INDIA bloc candidates will contest all nine seats in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly bypolls on his party's election symbol 'cycle'.

"We have resolved to save the Constitution, reservation and harmony. (We will) build the country envisioned by Bapu, Babasaheb and Lohia," the SP chief said in his post in Hindi.

The picture shared by Yadav showed him and Gandhi holding and raising each other's hands.

In another post on X late on Wednesday night, Yadav had said the SP and the Congress are united for a big win.

He said while the SP has allocated two seats -- ”Ghaziabad and Khair -- ”to the Congress, they will contest all nine seats under his party's symbol.

"It's not just about seats but about winning," he had said.

With the coming together of the Congress leadership and grassroots workers, the Samajwadi Party has been strengthened, Yadav had said.

"With this unprecedented support, every member of the INDIA bloc is energised and determined to win," he had added.

The nine assembly seats going to polls are Katehari, Karhal, Mirapur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan, Sisamau, Khair, Phulpur and Kundarki.

The bypolls will be held on November 13 and results will be announced on November 23.

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