Resignation of national politics: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav returned to state politics

In a move of stranghtning state politics, Samajwadi Party(SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and his party colleague Azam Khan on Tuesday resigned as the Lok Sabha members from Azamgarh and Rampur few days after they were elected to the Uttar Pradesh assembly.

Yadav is likely to be elected as the SP legislative party leader on Saturday when a meeting of the newly-elected lawmakers will be held in Lucknow. He submitted his resignation to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept back to power in Uttar Pradesh. SP leader and Rajya Sabha member Ramgopal Yadav accompanied him.

There was speculation earlier that Akhilesh Yadav and Khan would leave their assembly seats and retain Lok Sabha membership. Ahead of his resignation, Akhilesh Yadav met the SP’s office-bearers and supporters on March 18 in Karhal. On Monday, he consulted SP’s Azamgarh office-bearers.