Before Akhilesh Yadav’s birthday on July 1, a placard describing the leader of the Samajwadi Party as India’s “future Prime Minister” appeared outside the party’s Lucknow headquarters.
A massive poster of Kannauj MP that read “Future Prime Minister Akhilesh Yadav” surfaced in the state capital on Friday, according to images released by the news agency ANI. Reports state that in celebration of the party’s big victory in Uttar Pradesh during the most recent Lok Sabha elections, party members erected a hoarding.
#WATCH | Uttar Pradesh: “Future Prime Minister Akhilesh Yadav” posters have been put up outside the Samajwadi Party (SP) office in Lucknow, ahead of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s birthday on July 1. (28.06) pic.twitter.com/xN3O8Qzeai
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) June 29, 2024
SP’s Recent Electoral Success
Out of the 80 parliamentary seats in the state, the party won 37, its ally, the Congress took home six, the BJP took home 33, and its partners, the RLD and the Apna Dal (S), took home three additional seats. Yadav defeated Kannauj by a margin of 1,70,922 votes.
After beating two-time BJP MP Lallu Singh to win the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat in the Ayodhya district, SP leader Awadhesh Prasad caused a little political stir.
Such posters announcing Yadav as the nation’s future prime minister have appeared before. A similar poster had appeared outside the party’s Lucknow office earlier in October 2023. Party spokesman Fakhrul Hasan ‘Chaand’ posted it.
Recurring Posters and Party Sentiment
Fakhrul Hasan ‘Chaand’ responded, “Akhilesh Yadav’s birthday is on July 1, but Samajwadi Party workers celebrate his birthday multiple times to express their love and respect towards their leader,” when questioned about the reasoning behind the poster’s placement outside the party office.
Yadav, however, criticized the hoardings in Lucknow that featured him as the “Future PM,” stating that no one will become prime minister just by hanging posters.
In the state capital, a similar hoarding incident occurred before the 2019 general elections. At several places, there were posters with the phrases, “We trust Akhilesh to lead the state and the nation, the country needs a new PM.”
Akhilesh Yadav: who is he?
Akhilesh is the legendary leader Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son and the Lok Sabha MP for Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh. At 38 years old, he was the youngest person to hold the position of the 20th chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Before his resignation, he was elected to the 18th Vidhan Sabha as the Legislative Assembly for Karhal. He also served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from March 2022 to June 2024.
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