Uttar Pradesh: Party to decide whether I would contest assembly polls, says Akhilesh Yadav

LUCKNOW: A week after announcing that he would not contest the forthcoming assembly elections, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said his party would take a call on him contesting the polls. In what is being seen as a hint that he may eventually jump into the fray, Akhilesh said he would not elaborate on the issue any further, else the media would start asking him about his constituency.
Asked to clarify his position in the light of CM Yogi Aditaynath’s statement that the party will take a call on his contesting elections, the former UP CM said the party would take a call on the issue. "… aur jab chunav maidan mein hain, to chunav se peeche kaise hatenge humlog (When we are in the fray, how can we step back from elections)", he said adding: "… kyon ki jaisi hi han kahenge … to kshetra puchoge … (the moment I will say Yes, you will ask me about the constituency …)". He said he would elaborate on the issue when the time comes.
Akhilesh, who is an MP from Azmagarh, has never contested any assembly election so far and had announced last week that he would not contest this time as well.
Akhilesh dismissed media queries on the possibilities of Congress being a partner in the SP’s alliance with the Rashtriya Lok Dal. On the issue of the recent "meeting" between Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary at Lucknow airport waiting lounge, the former UP CM described it as something like "two people bumping into each other at a restaurant".
Asked to explain the context of his statement in which he spoke about Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi and Mohammed Ali Jinnah in the same breath and BJP attacking him for comparing Sardar Patel and Jinnah, Akhilesh said there was no point in explaining the context. "Dobara kitabein padh lein (They should read history again)," he said.
The SP president made these statements while talking to the media after inaugurating the regional office of Janvadi Party Socialist led by Sanjay Singh Chauhan in Lucknow. He attacked the ruling BJP for malpractices in the previous Lok Sabha polls. He said BJP supporters “gave money to buy votes” and voters in large numbers were inked.