“Akhilesh ke mafia, mafia ke Akhilesh”: Poster targeting SP chief surfaces in Lucknow

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 21 (ANI): With the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections approaching, a poster in Lucknow featuring former Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders Atiq Ahmed, Azam Khan and Mukhtar Ansari targeted party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday. 
The poster carried the words, "Azam, Atiq aur Mukhtar, yahi chalate thhey sarkar. Akhilesh ke mafia, mafia ke Akhilesh". 
This comes ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, with political parties increasingly sharpening their attacks against rivals over law and order, alleged criminal-political links and governance in the state.
Atiq Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party MP, was shot dead along with his brother Ashraf in Prayagraj in April 2023 while they were being taken for a medical examination. Ahmed had faced numerous criminal cases and had a long political career in Uttar Pradesh. 
Mukhtar Ansari, a former MLA from Mau, died in March 2024 while in custody after being convicted in multiple criminal cases. His political career was closely associated with eastern Uttar Pradesh and he had represented the Mau Assembly constituency for several terms.
Azam Khan, a prominent Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh minister, has also faced several criminal cases over the years. He has repeatedly denied allegations of wrongdoing and described several cases against him as "politically motivated".
Earlier on Sunday, Akhilesh Yadav targeted the ruling BJP following a clash between the SP's student wing and the RSS-affiliated ABVP at a college in Rae Bareli, asserting that people from the PDA (Pichada, Dalit and Alpsankyak) sections are facing humiliation under the BJP's rule in the state.
Yadav claimed that the marginalised community is uniting, warning that as their distress increases, the agitation against the government will continue to grow in the state.
"The Samajwadi Party has witnessed how the police administration and the government have treated students...Under the Bharatiya Janata Party government, people from the PDA sections are being deliberately humiliated. People from these marginalised sections are being distressed; along with humiliation, they are being subjected to suffering. That is why everyone who is suffering is uniting. The more the suffering grows, the more the agitation will grow," he said. (ANI)