Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 11 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh ministers Om Prakash Rajbhar and Daya Shankar Singh on Sunday challenged Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav to contest the 2027 Assembly elections against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from Ayodhya, after Yadav advised the Chief Minister to contest from the temple town.
Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar said Yogi Adityanath was ready to contest from Ayodhya if Akhilesh Yadav was also willing to enter the electoral contest from there.
“Yogi Ji is ready to contest from Ayodhya if Akhilesh Yadav is also willing to contest there. If Akhilesh Yadav has any political sense, he should accept the challenge. Yogi Adityanath Ji has accepted his challenge, so Akhilesh Yadav should step forward and file his nomination against him. If he is afraid to contest in Ayodhya, let him come to Zahoorabad. Akhilesh Ji will then realise the strength of the NDA alliance and where he stands,” Rajbhar said.
Daya Shankar Singh also asked the Samajwadi Party chief to contest from Ayodhya against the Chief Minister.
“Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has accepted his challenge. If Akhilesh Yadav has the courage, let him come to Ayodhya and contest. Yogi Ji has openly declared that he is ready to contest, so let him step forward,” Singh said.
On Friday, Akhilesh Yadav advised Yogi Adityanath to contest the 2027 Assembly elections from Ayodhya, saying that if the Chief Minister was confident of the people's support there, he should enter the electoral contest from the temple town.
Yadav made the remarks while interacting with the media during his visit to Balia, the ancestral village of former Leader of Opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary, to pay tribute to him.
"Please do not call it a challenge. This was political advice to him. If he is so comfortable with the people of Ayodhya, and if he has said that the truth will come out within 15 days, then he should take the decision to contest the next election from among them," he said.
"The people of Ayodhya are not against development. However, Ayodhya could have emerged as a city with an international identity and recognition. The way the people of Ayodhya have been treated has been discriminatory," Yadav said.
Taking a swipe at the issue of alleged temple offerings, the SP chief said, “Even a beggar sitting outside a temple does not steal the offerings.”Expressing confidence about the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Yadav said, “There is going to be a change in 2027.” (ANI)
UP Minister OP Rajbhar challenges Akhilesh Yadav to contest against Yogi Adityanath from Ayodhya
