Samajwadi Party president and the former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has said that the by-elections to Gorakhpur and Phulpur lok Sabha seats on Sunday will create a new history in the country.
Akhilesh Yadav in a Tweet on Sunday morning called upon the people of the state to come and vote en masse and deliver results that would prove “revolutionary” in a by-election that’s being seen as a dry run for the state’s 80 seats ahead of next year’s general elections.
SP president’s tweet in Hindi read: “Today is a day to change and create history. Come out with everyone and show how much strength our unity holds. The results will be revolutionary and decisive for the future of the nation and the state”.
Days before the election, Akhilesh Yadav pulled off an accord with arch rival Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj party. The BSP leader had entered into alliances with the Samajwadi Party 25 years ago in 1992 and the alliance was torn apart in June 1995 which led to the infamous State Guest House incident where the goons of the Samajwadi party had attacked Mayawati and abducted BSP MlAs.
Along with and after the victory in Uttar Pradesh, the BP bagged a string of non-BJP ruled states: Goa, Uttarakhand, and Assam and Manipur in the northeast. last week, it scored a victory in the assembly elections in Tripura and formed government in Meghalaya and Nagaland with the help of regional allies.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has called the SP-BSP ties a reaction to the recent BJP advances in the northeast. But alongside the victories, the BJP lost face in Rajasthan, where the Congress won three key seats in last month’s by-elections. The Congress also retained the two seats it had in the by-elections in Madhya Pradesh - seen as its biggest stronghold after Gujarat — despite an all-out campaign by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.