Akhilesh Yadav to follow AAP, says won't cite Lord Rama or Hanuman for electoral win in UP

Stating that the electorate of Delhi had voted on development plank, Yadav said that the people of UP would also do the same

Categorically ruling out any kind of alliance in the next assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said that his party, like the Aam Admi Party (AAP), would seek votes in the name of 'work' and not 'Rama' or 'Hanuman'.

''I will not have to cite Lord Rama or Hanuman for an electoral win in UP. I will instead cite the work undertaken in the state during our party's regime between 2012 and 2017,'' he said while speaking at a function here.

Akhilesh was apparently referring to the speeches of the BJP leaders, especially UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, during their election campaign in the recently concluded assembly polls in Delhi in which they repeatedly invoked Lord Rama and Hanuman.

Stating that the electorate of Delhi had voted on development plank, he said that the people of UP would also do the same.

''We will seek support of the electorate on the basis of our work. We will also urge them to ask the BJP government to explain about its work,'' he added.

Akhilesh also, albeit in a veiled manner, took potshots at Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for visiting Azamgarh (Akhilesh's LS constituency) recently to meet the woman anti-CAA protesters.

The SP leader said that his party would go alone in the next UP assembly elections though there could be some ''minor giving and taking''.

The SP president's remarks assume significance as the BSP supremo Mayawati too had hinted that her party would not have any kind of alliance with the SP or other rival parties in the state.

SP and BSP had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in alliance in UP but their alliance failed to click. While BSP bagged 10 seats, the SP managed to win only five seats.