Akhilesh Yadav likely contest in Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls
Akhilesh Yadav may reconsider his decision not to contest in UP polls after his sister-in-law jumped the ship to BJP on Wednesday. His party leaders told him that not contesting in UP polls will send the wrong message to party cadres.
Lucknow: After much dilly-dallying, the Samajwadi Party chief, Akhilesh Yadav has decided to contest in Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
Mr. Yadav said that he will reconsider his earlier decision of not contesting Assembly polls. After incumbent chief minister Yogi Adityanath decided to contest in the polls for the first time, the pressure was mounting on Akhilesh Yadav in the party to contest Assembly polls. Earlier he was decided not to contest and would focus on all Assembly seats in the state.
Yogi Adityanath will contest from Gorakhpur Sadar in eastern UP and the BJP assesses big gains in this region by fielding the priest-politician, who is the head of the influential Gorakhpur Mutt.
Sources maintained that Mr. Akhilesh Yadav may contest from eastern UP or a central constituency like high profile Lucknow constituency or he will contest from more than one seat.
Reports of Akhilesh Yadav contesting the election come a day his sister-in-law Aparna Yadav is tipped to join the BJP in Delhi, going in the opposite direction after several key backward caste leaders from the BJP switched to the Samajwadi Party recently.
In 2012, when he led the Samajwadi Party to a big victory in UP, he took over as the country's youngest Chief Minister at 38. He was a Lok Sabha MP from Kannauj at the time.
https://24x7liveindia.com/aparna-yadav-mulayam-singh-yadavs-daughter-in-law-joins-bjp
Later, he took the route of the state Legislative Council. His wife Dimple Yadav was elected unopposed from the seat he vacated, Kannauj.
