Akhilesh Yadav on UP poll results: ‘We've shown BJP's seats can be reduced…'

Mar 11, 2022 08:41 AM IST

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UP election result: Akhilesh Yadav's party got 111 of 403 assembly seats on its own.

Akhilesh Yadav on Friday morning tweeted that his party has “shown that the BJP's seats" can be reduced in the state assembly, a day after the Samajwadi Party failed to stop its rival from returning to power in Uttar Pradesh. “We have shown that the BJP's seats can be reduced. The fall for the BJP will continue. Half of the misunderstanding has gone, the other half will go too,” the former UP chief minister wrote in Hindi. "To the people of Uttar Pradesh, for increasing our seats by 2.5 times and our vote share by 1.5 times, we thank you," the 48-year-old Samajwadi Party chief said in his tweet with a declaration - "Our struggle for public welfare will continue".

Akhilesh Yadav at an election campaign rally. (HT FILE PHOTO)(HT_PRINT)

The SP won 111 of 403 seats on Thursday as the BJP returned to power with 255 seats while its allies got 18. In the 2017 assembly polls, the BJP, along with allies, had clinched 325 seats, 52 higher than this time. Yadav's party had got 47 seats in the last state election.

While the BJP's vote share has been 41.3 per cent, the Samajawadi Party too managed to claim 32.1 per cent this time.

Akhilesh Yadav had been relentlessly campainging against the BJP in the months ahead polls and had also got the support of other opposition leaders. Mamata Banerjee was seen campaigning with him in a show of strength.

On Thursday, former union minister Sharad Pawar sent out a message for Yadav as the BJP's return in UP became evident within the first few hours of counting. “Akhilesh Yadav is not at fault, he contested on his own. He shouldn't think about the polling results as he has a higher stature in this country. He has fought better than before,” Pawar said.

"Even though the Samajwadi Party did not get a majority, it has established itself in UP," his tweet in Marathi read.

The BJP, meanwhile, has said it has succeeded in ending dynastic politics in the state in an apparent reference to the Congress and Akhilesh Yadav, whose father - SP patriarch Mulayam Yadav - has also served as the state's chief minister.