Should now stay in Gorakhpur, no need to come back: Akhilesh takes dig at Yogi for contesting UP polls from home turf

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], January 16 (ANI): Soon after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced that the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be contesting the upcoming state assembly elections from Gorakhpur, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday took a dig at the BJP stating that now since the saffron party has sent him back to his stronghold, he should stay there.
Addressing a press conference, the SP chief said, "Earlier they used to sometimes say 'he will fight from Ayodhya' or 'he will fight from Mathura' or 'he will fight from Prayagraj'. I am thankful to BJP. They have already sent him home even before polls, though people would have done it. Now Yogi should stay there. There is no need for him to come back."
He further said that he would not let any more BJP MLAs or ministers join the SP.
"Let me tell BJP that I will not take any BJP MLA, minister anymore. They can deny tickets (to their leaders) if they wish to," said Yadav.
Putting all speculations to rest, the BJP had announced that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will contest from his stronghold Gorakhpur which elected him to Lok Sabha for five straight terms till 2017.
The BJP fielded deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya from Sirathu constituency in Prayagraj while minister Shrikant Sharma will contest from Mathura.
There was speculation earlier that Adityanath, who never contested Assembly elections before, could contest either from Ayodhya or Mathura. BJP leader Harnath Singh Yadav had written to party national president JP Nadda and urged him to field the chief minister from Mathura.
Adityanath had fought the general election for the first time in 1998 from Gorakhpur when he was 26 and became the youngest MP in the 12th Lok Sabha.
He is the head priest of the Gorakhnath temple in the city. He took over this position in September 2014 after the death of his spiritual "father", Mahant Avaidhnath.
Notably, the BJP won the 2017 elections winning over 300 seats in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly without announcing a chief ministerial face. Adityanath, who had played a crucial role in the BJP's poll campaign, took over as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh on March 26, 2017.
Uttar Pradesh assembly elections will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)