 "Akhilesh Yadav")
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Sunday that he wants his party and the Congress to contest the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections together to defeat the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Earlier, SP leaders had stated that the party is "preparing to fight all seats in the state" where the contest is expected to be between the BJP and the Congress.
So far, the party has announced candidates for six seats in Madhya Pradesh, including Dhauhani (ST) and Chitrangi (ST) in the Siddi district of the state's Vindhya region; and Mehgaon, Bhander (SC), Niwari, and Rajnagar in the Bundelkhand and Gwalior-Chambal belts, all located near the Uttar Pradesh border.
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On being asked if the SP will contest the upcoming Madhya Pradesh polls alone, Akhilesh Yadav said, "I have had a discussion with our party cadre [in MP], and they have given a list to me. To defeat the BJP, I want the Congress and SP to fight together."
The SP chief also took a dig at Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan without naming him and said, "The CM face has not been declared, but there are so many who are contesting the election to become the CM."
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Last week, Akhilesh, the Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, began his party's campaign for the Madhya Pradesh elections by addressing a public meeting in the Rewa district's Sirmour constituency on September 27.
During his two-day visit to Madhya Pradesh, he held several meetings with the SP's state leadership and attended a public rally in Sirmour, where the party has fielded former BJP MLA Laxman Tewari as its candidate.
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In Chhattisgarh, the SP is considering contesting as many as 40 of 90 seats. Party insiders say the reason behind the SP contesting Assembly polls later this year is the objective to drive a hard bargain in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections.
