Akhilesh Yadav alleges 'BJP not allowing my helicopter to fly from Delhi to Muzaffarnagar'

UPDATE: Yadav has now departed for Muzaffarnagar via helicopter

 Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday, alleged that his helicopter has been detained in Delhi, disallowing him to fly to Muzaffarnagar. Yadav claimed that an hour ago a top BJP leader flew out of Delhi to the same destination. The ex-UP CM is scheduled to hold a joint press conference with RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary at Muzaffarnagar today. The 403-seat UP assembly is up for grabs in a 7-phase election from February 10 to March 7. Results will be announced on March 10.

Akhilesh: 'My helicopter denied to fly out of Delhi' 

Akhilesh Yadav's allegations come in the wake of BJP's offer to Chaudhary for a post-poll alliance. RLD - which has allied with SP - was offered by Home Minister Amit Shah to ally with them after the 2022 polls. Shah, who met with miffed Jat leaders to appease the community which spearheaded the farmers protest, claimed that the Chaudhary scion was on the wrong path and that 'Jats will speak to him'.

Snubbing BJP, Chaudhary said, "We are not on the wrong side. We are on the right side. I am not a 'Chavanni' (50 paisa coin) to flip sides. I'm currently in Muzaffarnagar and I believe that all seats here will be won by our alliance. This is not a short-term alliance, we (SP-RLD) have a deep understanding."

'CM Faces' in poll fray

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has confirmed that he will contest from Mainpuri's Karhal constituency in the upcoming polls. On the other hand,  BJP has fielded incumbent CM Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur Urban seat - his home constituency. Facing him, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad announced that he will contest against Adityanath for the Gorakhpur Urban constituency. On the other hand, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra 'declared' herself as Congress' CM face, only to retract it mere hours later.  It is also unclear if Vadra will contest polls as she has never done so till date.

UP polls

BJP has announced that it will fight along with allies Nishad Party and  Apna Dal (S) under the leadership of CM Yogi Adityanath. On the other hand, SP has refused to ally with big parties like Congress or BSP, opting to ally with smaller parties like  Mahan Dal, NCP, SBSP, RLD, PSPL and has kept his doors open for AIMIM, AAP. BSP chief Mayawati has already announced that her party will fight polls alone in UP and Uttarakhand, while allying only with Akali Dal in Punjab. Congress has aggressively campaigned under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi in the state, eyeing its solo return. Chandrashekhar Azad's Bhim Army has allied with 35 smaller parties to contest on all 403 seats.