Akhilesh Yadav follows in Yogi's footsteps; ready to contest UP polls as per SP directive

In a big development on Monday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav asserted that he was ready to contest the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. A 4-time Lok Sabha MP, Yadav was elected to the UP Legislative Council after taking oath as the Chief Minister of UP in 2012. While maintaining suspense over his prospective constituency, the former UP CM stressed that he will choose a seat as per his party's directive. 

Addressing a press briefing, SP president Akhilesh Yadav remarked, "I will fight the election from wherever my party asks me to. Recall that Netaji contested the election from so many regions. Netaji fought from Gunnaur, Firozabad, Etah, Mainpuri. Shahjahanpur. So, we have a lot of seats. He contested from Azamgarh." 

Yadav's declaration comes days after UP CM Yogi Adityanath confirmed his wish to fight the election. Speaking to the media on December 1, the latter refrained from divulging whether he would contest from Ayodhya, Mathura, or Gorakhpur. Commenting on this, Yadav contended that he will have to face tough questions from the people in any seat that he decides to contest in the UP polls. 

"When our Chief Minister will go to fight the election, irrespective of which region he goes to, the people of that region will ask him- that you had promised that the income of farmers will be doubled. Has the income of farmers doubled?

The youths of that region who didn't get jobs and were shown big dreams will question him on jobs. The government did not extend any help to the businessmen who were ruined during the COVID-19 period. BJP has no answer to many such questions," the SP chief affirmed. 

UP polls

In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, BJP had won a whopping 312 seats in the 403-member House, whereas BSP could win only 19 seats. On the other hand, the SP-Congress alliance failed to bear fruit as it could win in only 54 constituencies. In the upcoming election, Congress is going solo. 

Meanwhile, former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav has embarked on a statewide tour as a part of his "Samajwadi Vijay Yatra" in a bid to stage a comeback in the state. Buoyed by the overwhelming public support during his election campaign, he has often predicted that SP will win 400 seats in the 2022 Assembly polls.

While Akhilesh Yadav has ruled out any alliance with Congress and BSP, he has announced a tie-up with Shivpal Yadav's PSP(L), Mahan Dal, OP Rajbhar's SBSP, RLD and the Apna Dal faction of Krishna Patel.