Akhilesh Yadav's jibe at Yogi Adityanath: BJP has sent him home, he should stay there

Yogi Adityanath, notably, is a five-term former Lok Sabha member from Gorakhpur and is currently a member of the state's Legislative Council. BJP annouced today that CM Yogi will contest from his home turf in upcoming UP Polls.

Pic courtesy: ANI

Lucknow: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday (January 15, 2022) released the first list of nominees for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. While earlier there were rumours that CM Yogi Adityanath might contest from Ayodhya, it was annouced today that he will be contesting from Gorakhpur.

Taking a dig at the UP CM and his party, Samajwadi Chief Akhilesh Yadav said this about Yogi's candidature from Gorakhpur for Assembly polls: "Earlier they used to sometime say that he (Yogi) will fight from Ayodhya, sometimes it was that he will fight from Mathura then it was Prayagraj... I am thankful to BJP that hey have sent him home (Gorakhpur) even before polls. Yogi should stay there... there is no need for him to come from there," he said. Akhilesh said that the BJP has sent Yogi home and "now people will keep him home."

Yogi Adityanath is a five-term former Lok Sabha member from Gorakhpur and is currently a member of the state's Legislative Council.

Earlier in the day, however, it was Chandrashekhar Azad, president of the Azad Samaj Party (ASP), who slammed Akhilesh and SP. Dubbing Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav as 'anti-Dalit', Chandrashekhar made it clear that he is not going to form an alliance with the SP in the upcoming Assembly polls.

Chandrashekhar claimed that Akhilesh does not understand the meaning of social justice and accused the SP chief of humiliating him. "Akhilesh has insulted Dalits. He only needs Dalit votes, not leaders. It has become clear from his behaviour that he is similar to the BJP," Chandrashekhar said while interacting with the media in Lucknow on Saturday. 

The SP, notably, is trying to extend its social alliance to add Dalits and most backward castes in UP by forming alliances with smaller caste-based parties and organising caste and community conferences.