Thaindian News

Firozabad (Uttar Pradesh), Nov 12 (IANS) An upset Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, son of party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Thursday said his wife Dimple’s defeat in the Lok Sabha by-election here was a verdict against him, but did not rule out a covert deal between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the constituency.
“The verdict is against me. I had won the seat earlier,” Akhilesh Yadav said at a press conference with his wife next to him.

Dimple Yadav was defeated by the Congress’ Raj Babbar, who had left the Samajwadi Party, by more than 85,000 votes.

Projecting the fight in the constituency, which he represented earlier, as one between him and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh said: “I congratulate Rahul Gandhi.”

Akhilesh claimed that if Gandhi had not campaigned in the constituency, “Raj Babbar stood no chance of winning the poll”.

“I would also not rule out a conspiracy between the Congress and BJP, whereby the traditional BJP vote was systematically transferred to the Congress, otherwise there was no way for Babbar to score such a hefty margin,” he said.

He said Uttar Pradesh would now witness a battle between secular forces, represented by him, and the Congress.

“If someone throws challenges at me, I accept it,” said a clearly miffed Akhilesh as he pitched himself as a national leader.

While Dimple beside him left Akhilesh to answer the questions, she did respond to a question if her defeat would disillusion her from venturing into the political area ever again.

“Of course, I am not going to give up. I will continue to fight and carve out a place for myself,” she asserted. Akhilesh added: “She is not quitting politics and she is here to stay.”