Lucknow: As preparations for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections gather pace, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav has announced he will not be contesting, choosing instead to focus on campaigning across the state and fielding candidates in all 403 constituencies.
Explaining his decision, Akhilesh said he believes in “shubh” (auspicious) and “ashubh” (inauspicious) signs and would follow what had worked in his favour in the past.
Recalling the 2012 UP elections, when the SP secured a majority and he became chief minister, Akhilesh pointed out that he was a Lok Sabha MP from Kannauj at the time. He contrasted this with the 2022 elections, when he contested and won from Karhal but the party failed to form the government.
According to SP sources, the decision is also part of a larger electoral strategy. If Akhilesh contests, a significant part of his campaign schedule could be spent campaigning in his own seat, where the BJP is likely to deploy its full organisational strength against him.
Instead, the SP chief wants to travel across Uttar Pradesh and campaign in all 403 assembly constituencies, ensuring that he remains available for the party’s candidates statewide.
BJP calls him ‘Ranchhod Akhilesh’
The UP BJP has targeted Akhilesh over his decision not to contest the elections, with the party state unit’s chief Pankaj Chaudhary calling him “Ranchhod Akhilesh” in a social media post and accusing him of running away from the electoral battlefield.
“First, he (Akhilesh) threw a challenge, and now he has run away.Will he now take oath as chief minister directly from the Lok Sabha? This is much like a regime change without an election. This is the reality of the Samajwadis. When they were in power, they were afraid of visiting Noida. Now, they are afraid of contesting elections,” Chaudhary wrote on X.
Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak meanwhile said that the SP had already anticipated its defeat and that Akhilesh was reluctant to face the electorate.
SP spokesperson Pooja Shukla, dismissing the BJP’s barbs, told ThePrint Akhilesh was the party’s biggest star campaigner and needed to visit all 403 constituencies. “The BJP could have tried to trap him in one constituency. Instead of falling into that trap, he will travel across Uttar Pradesh. He contested from Karhal in the previous election. If he does not want to contest this time, we stand by his decision.”
Several UP CMs have not contested polls
In Uttar Pradesh politics, there have been many chief ministers who have assumed office without being an elected member of the state legislature at the time of taking oath. BSP chief Mayawati became chief minister twice without contesting an assembly election. In June 1995, following the infamous Lucknow guest house episode, she became chief minister with BJP support while she was a Rajya Sabha member. That government, however, lasted only around four-and-a-half months.
In 2007, when the BSP secured a full majority, Mayawati was again not an MLA. She was a Rajya Sabha member when she took oath as chief minister and subsequently entered the state legislature through the Legislative Council, serving a full five-year term as an MLC.
Tribhuvan Narayan Singh was the first Uttar Pradesh chief minister to take oath without being a member of either House of the state legislature. After assuming office on 18 October 1970, he contested a by-election from the Maniram assembly constituency in Gorakhpur to fulfil the constitutional requirement. However, he lost to Ram Krishna Dwivedi of the Congress (R), forcing him to resign as chief minister.
In November 1999, when the BJP replaced Kalyan Singh with Ram Prakash Gupta as chief minister, Gupta was not a member of either House of the state legislature. He subsequently entered the Legislative Council.
Similarly, when Rajnath Singh became chief minister in October 2000, he was a Rajya Sabha MP and Union Minister for Surface Transport. After taking oath, he contested a by-election from the Haidergarh Assembly constituency in Barabanki and won.
In 2012, when the SP secured a full majority in the Assembly elections, Akhilesh was chosen as chief minister despite being a Lok Sabha MP from Kannauj. He later resigned from the Lok Sabha and entered the state legislature through the Legislative Council.
In 2017, the BJP appointed Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath as chief minister after securing a massive majority in the Assembly elections. Yogi was not a member of either House of the state legislature when he took oath and subsequently became an MLC.
However, in the 2022 Assembly elections, he contested from Gorakhpur Urban, won the seat and returned as chief minister for a second term.
BJP wants Yogi and both deputy CMs to contest in 2027
While Akhilesh may stay away from the electoral contest, the BJP is preparing to field Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and both Deputy CMs, Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, in the upcoming polls, ThePrint has learnt.
Yogi is currently the MLA from Gorakhpur Urban, while Brajesh Pathak represents the Lucknow Cantonment constituency. Maurya, however, is currently an MLC. He had contested the 2022 assembly elections from Sirathu in Kaushambi but lost to Apna Dal (K) leader Pallavi Patel.
According to BJP sources, Maurya is keen to contest the 2027 elections but is exploring options for a different constituency. He is believed to be considering Prayagraj North and Phaphamau assembly seat as possible options. However, both seats are currently represented by BJP MLAs, adding to the uncertainty over where he could be fielded.
The party wants Maurya to contest the assembly elections, but a final decision on his constituency is yet to be taken.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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