Akhilesh Yadav distances himself from Rampur By-Poll

Rampur, Jun 22: Even as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressed rallies for the BJP candidates in Azamgarh and Rampur for the June 23 Lok Sabha bypoll, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav stayed away from campaigning.

 

 

 

Instead of touring the constituencies, Akhilesh merely issued an appeal urging voters to support the party candidates in both the seats.

 

 

 

Both the seats – considered the stronghold of the Samajwadi Party with the dominance of the party’s traditional vote bank of Muslims and Yadavs – were won by the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls – Akhilesh in Azamgarh and Azam Khan in Rampur. Their resignation from their respective Lok Sabha seats to continue as MLA after winning in the recent Assembly elections necessitated the by-poll. While the SP has fielded Azam’s close aide Asim Raja in Rampur, it has nominated Akhilesh’s cousin and former MP Dharmendra Yadav. However, Akhilesh’s absence from the campaign did not go unnoticed. It is not like that Akhilesh has not campaigned in Lok Sabha by-polls in the past. He had addressed rallies in Gorakhpur and Phulpur in March 2018, when the SP-BSP combine defeated BJP there in the Lok Sabha bypolls. But the party this time played down Akhilesh’s absence, both from Rampur and Azamgarh, saying that party leaders and cadres have assured him of victory. “Both Akhileshji and voters of Azamgarh and Rampur trust each other. He had issued an appeal to the voters and monitored the campaign and poll-related organizational activities from Lucknow… Party’s functionaries, workers, and MLAs in Azamgarh have assured our party chief that they will look after the campaign and ensure the win, and need not go there,” party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said. Another SP leader said that Akhilesh did not take part in the bypoll campaign “as part of a strategy”. “Since national leaders of other political parties like BJP and BSP were not canvassing, it was not suitable for Akhilesh– who is our party’s national president – to campaign in the bypoll. Also, both Azamgarh and Rampur are strongholds of the SP,” said a senior party leader.

 

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With BSP only contesting in Azamgarh after deciding not to field its candidate in Rampur, and Congress giving the bypoll a miss, the Samajwadi Party is the only opposition party in the fray in both the seats against the ruling BJP. BSP chief Mayawati also did not campaign. She also issued a written appeal to the voters of Azamgarh, asking them to defeat both the SP and BJP.