“Hopeful Of Winning More Seats Than We Did Last Time”: SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav In MP

Rewa (Madhya Pradesh) [India]: Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday talked up his party’s prospects in the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, saying that it would win “more” seats than it did the last time.

The BJP-ruled state is scheduled to go to polls later this year.

Speaking to media on Wednesday, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said, “The SP has been contesting elections in Madhya Pradesh for a number of years now. Our ideology has taken root in the state over the years.

A pivot towards socialist ideals is what MP needs sorely at this time as unemployment, inflation and social justice are on the rise here. We are hopeful of winning more seats here than we did the last time.”

Lashing out at the BJP at the rally in Rewa, MP, later in the day, the SP chief said those in the ruling party are liars as they never make good on their pre-poll promises.

“I would urge voters to consider this election as the one which determines the political fate of the country. Your vote will send across a message to other states which are also going to polls in the coming days. The BJP leaders are habitual liars as they never fulfill their promises to the people. They had promised to double the farmers’ income but ended up doubling the inflation instead,” the SP chief said at the public meeting in Rewa.

Expressing happiness over the Congress coming out in support of a caste census, the SP chief said, “We have to unite people around this and make them understand the importance of a caste census. I welcome the Congress coming out in support of the caste census. Earlier, they had opposed it in the Lok Sabha but I am happy that they are now standing up for the PDA (Pichada [backward], Dalits, Alpsankhayak [marginalised]) and is now in favour of caste census,” he said.

Samajwadi Party has already declared its candidates for six seats in MP and Akhilesh is set to campaign extensively for them.

The SP chief, according to sources, is not only trying to boost its poll numbers in a state that was once a stronghold but is also desperate for the outfit to attain the tag of a national party.

While he is keen on contesting the next Assembly polls in the state in alliance with the Congress, there have been no talks yet on seat sharing, sources added.