Next stop Delhi? Akhilesh eyes national politics after mega UP poll triumph

SP sources said that Akhilesh's uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav could replace him as leader of the opposition in the state assembly in case the former moved to national politics.

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav might soon shift his focus to national politics and keep the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat from where he emerged victorious in the Lok Sabha elections. Akhilesh might resign from the Karhal assembly seat.

According to the SP sources here, a decision in this regard was likely to be taken in the next few days. The issue also came up at the meeting of the newly elected SP MPs here on Saturday.

Sources said that a section of the MPs were of the opinion that Akhilesh should shift to national politics. "The new coalition government at the Centre may not be stable given the past record of some of the alliance partners in the NDA.....anything can happen anytime....it is time for Akhilesh to shift to Delhi,'' said an SP leader here while speaking to DH.

SP sources said that Akhilesh's uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav could replace him as leader of the opposition in the state assembly in case the former decides to move to national politics. ''Shivpal is the senior most leader in the party....he is fit for the post of leader of the opposition,'' the SP leader added.

Sources said that Akhilesh's nephew Tej Pratap Yadav could contest from Karhal seat if Akhilesh chose to vacate it and retain Kannauj.

At the meeting of the newly elected MPs of the party, Akhilesh said that his party's 'PDA' (pichda, dalit, alpsankhyak) formula worked in the Lok Sabha elections. ''The results have shown that the negative politics of the BJP has ended...it shows that the people support the parties which take up real issues,'' he said.

He said that the SP had emerged stronger in the polls and that it was important that the party continued to raise the issues concerned with the people. ''It is our responsibility to corner the government by raising issues of the common people,'' Akhilesh said.

All the 37 MPs of the SP were present at the meeting. SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav and other senior leaders also attended the meeting. SP, which had contested the elections in alliance with Congress, had won 37 seats in the Lok Sabha polls. Congress had won six seats.