Has Akhilesh Yadav made up his mind to fight UP polls?

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday (January 19) decided to contest the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls this time — his first attempt at the state level, said the NDTV quoting sources.

Akhilesh, who is the Lok Sabha MP from Azamgarh, has not officially announced the decision or the constituency, but party insiders said that he is fighting the elections for sure. Hours before, Aparna Yadav, the daughter-in-law of Mulayam Singh Yadav, decided to join the BJP in Lucknow. Aparna Yadav is married to Prateek Yadav, son of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s second wife while SP president Akhilesh Yadav is his son from the first marriage.

Akhilesh Yadav has so far maintained that he won’t contest the state elections and would rather focus on every seat. The SP chief, who was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh from 2012 to 2017, has never contested a state election. In 2012, he became the country’s youngest chief minister at age 38. Before that he was an MP from Kannauj. After becoming the CM, Akhilesh entered the house via state Legislative Council.

Also read: Akhilesh is emerging stronger, but hurdles grow tougher too

It is said that Akhilesh was under pressure to enter the ring after Chief Minister and BJP leader Yogi Adityanath decided to contest the state polls for the first time from Gorakhpur.

Earlier in the day, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya took a swipe at Akhilesh Yadav when he said “the SP leader always stakes claim over development works carried out by the BJP government but is unable to have courage to fight from any place which he has developed”.

Akhilesh Yadav had categorically denied fighting the polls in November, but his party had then clarified that no such decision has been made.