Akhilesh Yadav also took a dig at BJP dropping 20 sitting MLAs from the list and said, “Let me tell BJP that I will not take any BJP MLA, minister anymore. They can deny tickets (to their leaders) if they wish to”
Lucknow: Taking a swipe at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for contesting the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly poll from his stronghold Gorakhpur, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has already sent him to his constituency and there is no need for him to come back to capital city Lucknow.
Addressing media in Lucknow, minutes after BJP released its first list of candidates, the Samajwadi Party leader said, “Earlier BJP sometimes said ‘he (Adityanath) will fight from Ayodhya’ or ‘he will fight from Mathura’ or ‘he will fight from Prayagraj’… now see… I like that the BJP has already sent him to Gorakhpur. Yogi should stay there… there is no need for him to come from there,” said Yadav.
He also took a dig at BJP dropping 20 sitting MLAs from the list and said, “Let me tell BJP that I will not take any BJP MLA, minister anymore. They can deny tickets (to their leaders) if they wish to”
Yadav also presented is version of reason for breakdown of possible alliance with Chandrashekhar Azad’s Azad Samaj Party, and claimed he offered two seats to Azad, but he refused the deal after receiving a “call”. “Yesterday he (Azad) came to me and said he will contest. I offered him Ghaziabad and Rampur Maniharan seats after talking to Lok Dal. but he (Azad) received some call and refused to be part of the alliance,” Yadav said and insinuates towards a possible political conspiracy.
Earlier today, ruling out an alliance with the Samajwadi Party for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar ‘Azad’ on Saturday criticised Akhilesh Yadav for eyeing ‘Dalit vote bank’, alleging that former chief minister does not want Dalits in his party. Azad said that he has held several meetings with Yadav in the last six months.
He also addressed the issued of Lucknow Police’s notice to party for violation of Model Code of Conduct, Section 144, COVID protocols yesterday and appealed to the leaders and party workers to abide by EC guidelines and COVID protocols whenever they come to the office.
Notably, Akhilesh Yadav has stitched an alliance with several smaller parties and emering as the strongest contender to the BJP’s UP re-election bid to power in the upcoming state elections.
Uttar Pradesh assembly elections will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7.
