SP chief targets BJP on development, challenges CM to contest from Ayodhya

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav challenged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to contest the upcoming Assembly elections from Ayodhya, alleging that the BJP was "nervous" ahead of the polls. Yadav made the statement after attending a religious discourse at the ancestral home of a senior SP leader in Ayodhya.

The SP recently won the Faizabad (Ayodhya) Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 parliamentary elections, defeating the BJP candidate by a significant margin. Yadav accused the BJP of carrying out demolition drives in the name of development and promised that an SP government would ensure no discrimination and no demolition of houses or shops.

The SP chief also announced that if elected, the party would provide ₹40,000 annually to women. Addressing the gathering, Yadav criticized the BJP for fostering division, casteism, and social discrimination, stating that spiritual discourses could help boost morale during troubled times. In response, a state BJP leader dismissed Yadav's challenge, predicting that the SP would fail to secure a significant number of seats in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections and that the party was living in a "delusion."