Janshakti Janta Dal (JJD) founder Tej Pratap Yadav said on Sunday that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will return to power in Uttar Pradesh following next year's assembly elections in the state.
Speaking to reporters in Mirzapur district's Vindhyachal, the former Bihar minister also drew parallels between Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and said he doesn't support Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav and does not expect him to win the 2027 Uttar Pradesh elections.
"I don't support Akhilesh Yadav... Everyone saw the results of the Bihar elections and how our party performed. Winning and losing is a part of politics. There is a huge change Yogi Adityanath will form the government here again," Tej Pratap, the elder son of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav, said.
Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held early next year, along with those in Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab. The BJP under Adityanath's leadership would be looking to return to power for a third straight term.
Samajwadi Party's push to make a comeback in Uttar Pradesh
Similarly, Samajwadi Party is eyeing a comeback in Uttar Pradesh after a decade after its impressive performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections where it won 37 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
The Samajwadi Party had lost the 2017 assembly elections after the BJP won over 300 out of the 403 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. In the 2022 assembly polls, the Samajwadi Party's performance improved after it won 111 seats, but the BJP managed to retain power with 255 seats.
However, buoyed by its success in the 2024 parliamentary elections, the Samajwadi Party has intensified its campaign against the BJP, whom it has alleged that it is weakening the reservation system in the country and attacking the minorities.
"If we have to approach courts for constitutional rights, it means the government is biased. And one who is biased is also unfaithful. Bias itself is injustice because it snatches away rights," Akhilesh alleged at a press conference earlier this week.
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