LUCKNOW: Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav emerged from political hibernation, Thursday, calling for applications from desirous party men to contest the upcoming bypolls to 12 UP Assembly seats post-July.
Yadav’s party suffered a jolt when BSP chief and ally Mayawati blamed SP for the LS defeat in which the coalition secured just 15 of the 78 seats they fought and declared it would go alone in the by-poll leaving Akhilesh in a bind. SP managed to win just five seats losing its bastions at Kannauj, Badaun and Firozabad.
Yadav, who returned from a London vacation, interacted with party-men for the first time since May 23 when LS results were announced. He asked them to take the poll seriously. Notably, 11 of 12 seats, including Gangoh, Iglas, Tundla, Govind Nagar (Kanpur), Lucknow Cantt, Hamirpur, Manikpur, Zaidpur Balha (all BJP seats), Pratapgarh (BJP ally Apna Dal), Rampur (SP) and Jalalpur in Ambedkarnagar (BSP) will go to by-polls due to the sitting MLAs being elected to Parliament.
Hamirpur seat will go to poll because of sitting BJP MLA Ashok Singh Chandel’s disqualification after his conviction in a 22-year-old murder case. SP has 46 MLA’s presently, following Azam Khan’s election to Parliament from Rampur. Though SP will be taking on BSP as a rival this time, Akhilesh has been cautious enough not to burn its future bridges with the BSP.
BJP trying to dislodge governments: Maya
BSP president Mayawati charged the BJP with attempting to dislodge governments in states ruled by opposition parties and called for strict laws to end the membership of those indulging in defection. Her remarks come in the backdrop of hectic political activity in Karnataka and Goa. Sixteen MLAs of the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition have resigned in Karnataka