Akhilesh dares CM Yogi to contest from Ayodhya in assembly election
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav has challenged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to contest the upcoming assembly elections from Ayodhya. Yadav criticized the current administration's development policies and promised financial support for women if his party returns to power.
Why it matters
The challenge highlights the intense political rivalry in Uttar Pradesh and the strategic importance of Ayodhya as a symbolic and electoral battleground.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday (October 8, 2026) in Ayodhya challenged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to contest from Ayodhya in the upcoming Assembly polls, adding that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is nervous.
“If the Chief Minister who makes big claims is so confident then he should contest the election from Ayodhya himself,” said Mr. Yadav, who attended the Shrimad Bhagwat Katha held at the ancestral home of Samajwadi Party leader and former Minister Tej Narayan Pandey alias Pawan Pandey in Ayodhya. The Samajwadi Party (SP) won the Faizabad (Ayodhya) Lok Sabha seat in 2024 parliamentary elections with its candidate Awadhesh Prasad defeating the BJP nominee Lallu Singh by over 54,000 votes.
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