Akhilesh Yadav says UP bypolls fight between Baba Saheb and 'Baba'

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said the Uttar Pradesh Assembly bypolls are a fight between those who believe in Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar and those who believe in "Baba", alluding to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

"This is a fight between those who believe in Baba Saheb and those who believe in 'Baba'. On one side are those who make and protect the Constitution; on the other side are those who destroy it," Yadav said in a post on X in Hindi.

"So far, the Constitution has protected the PDA; now the PDA will protect the Constitution! Proclaim Unity. Jai Samvidhan, Jai PDA!," he added.

Before the Lok Sabha elections, the SP chief had coined the slogan of PDA — Pichhde, Dalit, Alpsankhyak (backward, Dalit and minority).

In Uttar Pradesh, nine assembly seats are going to polls on November 20 -- Katehari (Ambedkar Nagar), Karhal (Mainpuri), Meerapur (Muzaffarnagar), Ghaziabad, Majhawan (Mirzapur), Sisamau (Kanpur City), Khair (Aligarh), Phulpur (Prayagraj) and Kundarki (Moradabad).

Eight of these seats fell vacant after their MLAs were elected as Lok Sabha MPs, while a bypoll is being held on the Sisamau seat due to the disqualification of SP MLA Irfan Solanki, who was convicted in a criminal case.

In the 2022 assembly polls, Sishamau, Katehari, Karhal and Kundarki were held by the SP, while the BJP won Phulpur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan and Khair.

The Meerapur seat was held by the RLD, which is now an ally of the BJP in the NDA.

The Congress is not contesting the bypolls and supporting its I.N.D.I.A. bloc partner SP, while the BSP is contesting solo on all nine seats.