Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will have to make up his mind soon on where he stays as lawmaker: In Parliament as the MP for Azamgarh or in the UP Assembly as MLA of Karhal.
Though the Samajwadi Party lost the recent assembly polls to the BJP, the party improved its vote share substantially and Akhilesh won his first assembly election.
The Times of India reported on Sunday that Akhilesh Yadav and Azam Khan, the Samajwadi Party's most-popular Muslim leader, were likely to quit their MLA posts to focus on the Lok Sabha polls scheduled for 2024. Azam Khan, who is the MP for Rampur, had won the recent assembly election from Rampur.
“Though SP was yet to take a final call [on Akhilesh's future], the party leadership is already in talks with its alliance partners over the possibilities. The issue is learnt to have surfaced during SP chief Akhiesh Yadav's meeting with alliance partner Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar and Mahan Dal president Keshav Dev Maurya on Friday and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSP-L) president Shivpal Yadav...” The Times of India reported.
The newspaper added “former Mainpuri MP Tej Pratap Yadav and former Badaun MP Dharmendra Yadav have been mooted to replace Akhilesh in Karhal by the cadres from the Yadav belt... in Rampur, the possible candidate could be Azam Khan's wife Tazeen Fatima”.
Other media outlets also reported the 2024 polls could be a priority for Akhilesh Yadav and his presence in Parliament would be crucial in helping arrive at understandings with parties opposed to the BJP. Given its 80 Lok Sabha seats, Uttar Pradesh plays a crucial part in deciding the nature of government formation at the Centre.
Interestingly, News 18 reported that activists of the SP were keen that Akhilesh stay on as MLA and “lead the Opposition’s charge against the Yogi Adityanath government in the Assembly as the party wishes to build on the momentum for 2027 (when next assembly polls will be due)”. An SP leader told News 18 “Akhilesh’s presence as party leader in the Assembly would keep the Yogi government on its toes.”
Following the Samajwadi Party's loss in the recent assembly polls, some observers had blamed Akhilesh for being aloof through most of the Yogi Adityanath government's tenure and not taking up major public issues strongly.
(With inputs from Puja Awasthi)
