UP Polls 2017: Akhilesh Yadav will get second consecutive term as CM in Uttar pradesh, says Ram Gopal Yadav

Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav on Thursday asserted that Akhilesh Yadav will get a second consecutive term as chief minister in Uttar Pradesh.

Yadav said the party along with the Congress will get “absolute majority” in the state Assembly as he ruled out possibility of a hung verdict.

“The Samajwadi Party-Congress combine is set to get absolute majority. We will win 236-240 seats...there is no question of hung assembly,” the party general secretary told reporters on Parliament premises.

To a question on the BJP forming a government in Uttar Pradesh, Yadav said it is “not aware” of ground realities. On the other hand, expelled SP leader Amar Singh said BJP has got an “advantage” over its rivals in bitterly-fought Assembly elections.

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With “opposition parties using expletives” against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Singh said the BJP stands to benefit from it electorally. Asserting that the BJP will have an edge over all other parties in the polls, Singh claimed that the BSP too will surpass the SP’s tally.

On whether the BJP and the BSP will come together if the elections throw up a hung verdict, the Rajya Sabha member said “UP is a wonderful state and politics a game of possibilities”.

Singh also dodged questions over the possibility of him joining the BJP, saying such issues are “not to be discussed before camera”.

The results of polls in the politically crucial state will be out on March 11. The Assembly polls were held in seven phases stretching between February 11 and March 8 in the state.