Will Fight State Polls Alone, Says Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav

Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav Thursday ruled out any alliance possibilities in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls to be held in 2022. The SP chief said that his party will form the next government in Uttar Pradesh. “We do not need alliances and will contest the 2022 polls on our own strength," he said. The Samajwadi Party allied with the Congress in the 2017 Assembly elections and was not only voted out of power but left with 47 seats in the state assembly that has 403 members.

In 2019, the SP allied with the Bahujan Samaj Party and the alliance was touted as a game changer. However, the Samajwadi Party was left with five seats and the BSP snapped the alliance, accusing SP cadres of not supporting BSP candidates.

On Wednesday, Akhilesh attacked the BJP government over its claimed efforts to make the state's roads pothole-free, saying the saffron party's "corruption" is the biggest hurdle to this. "When we say there are potholes, the BJP government doesn't believe it. That's why the government should issue a helpline on which people can send photographs and inform about potholes. Will the government believe the people?," Akhilesh said in a tweet in Hindi.

"The biggest 'gaddha' (pothole) is the BJP's corruption, without filling it all the efforts and preaching are useless," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister had said.

He also tagged a headline of a newspaper that said “Executive Engineers will be suspended if roads are not made pothole-free by November 30”.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has reportedly set a deadline for authroties concerned to make the state’s roads pothole-free.