NEW DELHI: Union minister Chirag Paswan on Thursday compared Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav‘s statement about the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls to a military commander staying away from the battlefield while his soldiers fight.Akhilesh Yadav, who served as Uttar Pradesh chief minister from 2012 to 2017, said on Tuesday that he would not contest the assembly elections, scheduled for early next year, and would instead become chief minister “directly from the Lok Sabha.”Also Read | ‘I become CM when I don’t contest elections’: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav rules out contesting UP assembly elections“I found this quite unusual. As a leader, you have to lead from the front. You have a responsibility to act like a commander who leads and guides soldiers on the battlefield, rather than sitting in a palace and watching them fight,” Paswan told reporters in Varanasi.The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief also questioned whether the SP president was apprehensive about an impending defeat.“Akhilesh ji’s statement that he will not contest the election but will take the oath is somewhat surprising. Is he afraid of defeat or concerned about his party’s performance?” he asked.Paswan cited assembly elections held after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls; the BJP lost its parliamentary majority in the Lok Sabha polls but the saffron party-led coalition went on to win state elections in Maharashtra, where the Congress and its allies had secured more seats in the general elections.“In the Lok Sabha elections, they (the opposition) secured votes by spreading lies and claiming that the Constitution and reservation were under threat. But now they appear worried that voters may not back them in the assembly elections, as happened in Maharashtra,” added the LJP (RV) chief, whose party is an ally of the ruling BJP.
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The BJP won 33 of Uttar Pradesh’s 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in 2024, down from 71 in 2014 and 62 in 2019. SP and Congress, who contested as allies, won 37 and six seats, respectively.Akhilesh Yadav’s remark, also made in Varanasi, referred to the 2012 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, which the SP had won. Following the victory, his father and SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav made him chief minister even though Akhilesh was then a Lok Sabha MP and had not contested the assembly elections.His successor, incumbent chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who will be seeking a third consecutive term, was also a Lok Sabha MP in 2017 and did not contest the assembly elections that year.Both leaders contested in 2022, after which Akhilesh yadav became the leader of the opposition in the Uttar Pradesh assembly. He vacated the post after returning to the Lok Sabha in 2024.