AKHILESH LIKELY TO CONTEST FROM KARHAL IN MAINPURI

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is likely to contest the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections from Mainpuri’s Karhal constituency, sources said on Thursday. The SP chief on Wednesday said that he would contest Assembly elections after taking permission from Azamgarh residents. Yadav is currently the Lok Sabha MP from Azamgarh.

Meanwhile, in another exit ahead of the Assembly elections, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav’s brother-in-law and former SP MLA Pramod Gupta joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Gupta slammed SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and alleged that the latter inducted criminals and gamblers in the party. He also accused Akhilesh of imprisoning Mulayam Singh Yadav. “Akhilesh Yadav has imprisoned Mulayam Singh Yadav and his position is very bad in the party… Criminals and gamblers have been inducted in the Samajwadi Party,” Pramod Guota told media persons before joining the BJP.

Gupta also accused Akhilesh Yadav of hating the Samajwadis. Gupta said, “Akhilesh-ji hates Samajwadis in SP. One by one, he cornered everyone and has only flatterers around in the party. He does not like people who work on the ground. No one has ever won with a margin of over 18,000 votes from the Bidhuna seat except for me. But I was denied the ticket.”

Talking about the reason behind joining the BJP ahead of the Assembly elections, he said that he liked the honest image of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

“I liked the policies of the government. I liked the image of Yogi Adityanath as an honest politician. This is why I joined the BJP,” Gupta said.

EXITS FROM CONGRESS

Former Congress leader Priyanka Maurya, who was the face of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s “Ladki Hun, Lad Sakti Hun” campaign in Uttar Pradesh joined the BJP on Thursday.

In another blow to the Congress, Rae Bareli Sadar MLA, Aditi Singh resigned from Congress. Singh addressed her resignation letter to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi.