Akhilesh Yadav likely to quit Karhal assembly seat as SP unable to form govt

|HT|

In the wake of the Samajwadi Party’s defeat in Uttar Pradesh, party chief Akhilesh Yadav is likely to quit the Karhal seat, which he won during his maiden ASSEMBLY elections, and remain as A Member of Lok Sabha from Azamgarh. “Now that we have not won the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and are not forming the government, it’s an obvious step for the party president to quit the Karhal seat and continue in Parliament. It’s not official yet but will be soon. The party will make the announcement in due course of time,” a senior party leader aware of the development said, seeking anonymity.

If Yadav resigns as MLA, it will mean that he will not be the leader of Opposition in the state assembly.

SP leader Sobaran Singh Yadav, who won from Karhal seat in the 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017 assembly elections and had stepped aside to allow Yadav to contest from the constituency this year, is likely to be the party’s candidate if a bypoll takes place. Karhal is in Mainpuri, which is considered a bastion of the SP. In the recently-held elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 255 of 403 seats. The SP, its main rival in a bipolar contest, won 111 seats.

Yadav won from Karhal seat, defeating BJP MP SP Singh Baghel by 67,504 votes.

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