New Delhi, March 22 : Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav, who was elected in the recently concluded Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, on Tuesday resigned as Lok Sabha MP. The Azamgarh MP, along with his uncle and party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav, met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and tendered his resignation. Akhilesh was elected from the Karhal seat in Mainpuri district after a seven-phased polls that lasted a month. His party MP, M. Azam Khan, who was elected as Rampur Sadar MLA, also resigned. He contested the polls from jail. SP’s chief spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary confirmed the development and told the party intends to improve participation in Vidhan Sabha. Following SP’s defeat in assembly polls, the party president has changed his strategy and wants to focus more on state politics specially with an eye on 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Uttar Pradesh has the maximum number of seats in the Lok Sabha (80), which are crucial. By resigning from Parliament, both Akhilesh Yadav and Azam Khan have given clear indications that they will focus on the politics of the state by raising the issues in the assembly. The former chief minister, who contested the assembly polls for the first time in his political career, defeated his nearest rival on Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate SPS Bahgel in Karhal. Prior to this the SP chief was the member of the upper house during his tenure of 2012-2017. After the assembly polls were announced there were speculations that Akhilesh may retain the Lok Sabha seat by resigning from the Vidhan Sabha. However, the party workers have been demanding him to retain Karhal seat. AB ING
