Akhilesh Yadav, Azam Khan likely to give up assembly seats to focus on LS polls

LUCKNOW: Looking beyond the battle for UP that established Samajwadi Party as BJP's lone challenger in the state, party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his colleague Azam Khan are expected to give up their assembly seats rather than their Lok Sabha membership with an eye on the 2024 parliamentary poll showdown, reports Pervez Iqbal Siddiqu i.

SP is already in talks with its alliance partners to decide the replacements for Azamgarh MP Akhilesh, who won the Karhal assembly seat, and Azam, who is now both Rampur MP and MLA, sources said.

While former Mainpuri MP Tej Pratap Yadav and ex-Badaun MP Dharmendra Yadav are said to be the main contenders for the Karhal seat if and when Akhilesh vacates it, Rampur could remain a family fief as Azam's wife Tazeen Fatima is being spoken of as the most likely pick.

SP has convened a meeting of its newly elected MLAs on March 21. The party leadership is likely to zero in on candidates for the posts of leaders of the opposition in the assembly and the state council that day. The previous leader of the opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary, was one of the big losers in this election. Nishad Party's Ketaki Singh defeated him by over 21,000 votes.