Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and party MP Azam Khan are likely to retain their membership of Lok Sabha and resign from the recently won seats of UP Assembly.
Akhilesh was elected to the Assembly from Karhal segment in Mainpuri district while Rampur MP Azam Khan was elected to the Assembly from Rampur seat.
Samajwadi Party sources said that both SP leaders face a tough choice as Lok Sabha elections are not far away and are scheduled to be held in April/May 2024. They said that Akhilesh faces the daunting task of keeping the party flock together and guarding against poaching attempts by the BJP. The SP was the main challenger to the BJP in the just-concluded UP Assembly elections and garnered 32.1 percent vote share aided by its three political allies.
A senior Samajwadi Party leader however said, “Nothing has been decided as yet and Akhilesh Yadav will soon take a call over the issue as he has over two weeks time to decide.’’
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party cadres want Akhilesh Yadav to lead the party in the Assembly and spearhead its fight against the BJP and Yogi government.
“Akhilesh’s presence as party leader in the Assembly would keep the Yogi government on its toes,” a young SP leader said. Azamgarh, the Lok Sabha constituency of Akhilesh Yadav, is also a key stronghold of the Samajwadi Party and the party won all 10 Assembly seats in Azamgarh this time as well as in 2017. The SP also made gains in other eastern UP districts this time like in Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Mau and Ambedkar Nagar.
Akhilesh fought his first-ever Assembly election from Karhal this time and won comfortably by nearly 70,000 votes. In 2019, Akhilesh won from Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat by 2.6 lakh votes and needs to give up one of the seats.
The SP emerged as the only opposition party in the UP Assembly as Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress were decimated. While the BSP could win a lone seat, the Congress managed to pocket a meagre two seats.
Earlier in March 2012, Akhilesh Yadav became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh while he was an MP from Kannauj. Instead of contesting the Assembly election to obtain the membership of the state legislature, the SP chief got elected to the Legislative Council.