Akhilesh will now retain his Karhal assembly seat and Azam Khan will keep his Rampur seat….reports Asian Lite News
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and SP MP Azam Khan has resigned from their respective Lok Sabha seats.
Akhilesh Yadav has resigned from the Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat while Azam Khan has given up his Rampur Lok Sabha seat.
Akhilesh will now retain his Karhal assembly seat and Azam Khan will keep his Rampur seat.
The decision to retain the assembly seats by these two leaders is a clear indication that the SP will continue to fight the BJP on its home turf.
The presence of Akhilesh Yadav and Azam Khan- whenever he is released from jail-in the state assembly is bound to give trouble to the ruling BJP.
A senior SP functionary told IANS, that the first priority of the party would be to retain Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats when by-elections are held.
“Those who think that we are demoralised with the UP results are sadly mistaken. We are very much on the battlefield and will now fight with greater vigour,” he said.
The decision of Akhilesh Yadav to retain his assembly seat is also a major morale booster for his party workers.
Meanwhile, the nomination of two SP candidates, Udaiveer Singh and Rakesh Yadav, from the Etah council seat has been cancelled by the returning officer and two BJP candidates have been declared elected unopposed.
‘Won’t attend Yogi’s swearing-in’
Akhilesh Yadav has said that he will not attend the swearing in ceremony of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday, as he has not been invited yet.
“I am not going to the swearing in ceremony of Yogi Adityanath because I have not been invited yet. I will not go to attend the event if I am invited now,” Akhilesh said while talking to reporters in Azamgarh late on Monday evening.
Akhilesh also appeared to have softened his stand on the EVM row as he said that now it is not the time to discuss this issue, but he questioned the role of administration.
“To divert attention and ensure that there is no demand for review of how BJP won the election, the government has started promoting the film ‘The Kashmir Files’. The result of the Uttar Pradesh election is completely different from the people’s expectations. Now, the BJP should ensure that profit being made by ‘The Kashmir Files’ is spent on rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits. A committee should be formed for rehabilitation of the Kashmiri Pandits,” he added.
On the drubbing in state elections, the SP chief said the process of review is going on and there were several reasons for the poll defeat.
Responding to the charge of indulging in casteist politics, he said that if the BJP does caste politics it is called social engineering but all others are called casteists.
Akhilesh also termed the rumours regarding return of SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar to the BJP as a “Holi joke”.
He went on to target BSP chief Mayawati saying she did nothing to save the Constitution of B.R. Ambedkar.
“It is being said that she joined hands with the BJP secretly. Time has come when Samajwadis will have to bring all Ambedkarwadis together,” he said.
