Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday announced that he will not contest the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, scheduled to be held early next year.He also said that an alliance between his party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) for the polls has been finalised. “Our alliance with RLD is final. Seat sharing is to be finalised.Yadav, who is also SP MP from Azamgarh and the chief minister face of his party, said he will “not be contesting the assembly polls”.On chances of taking uncle Shivpal Yadav’s Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL) along in the polls, he said, “I don’t have any problem in this. He and his men will be given due honour”.With all the major players including the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress announcing to go it alone in the upcoming assembly polls, the state is set to witness a multi-cornered contest. The big parties are rather eyeing alliances with smaller caste-specific parties.Pre-poll surveys have predicted a comfortable victory for the ruling BJP government, but the Samajwadi Party might make some big gains, compared to the 2017 polls. Experts are of the view that a splintered opposition will only help with the saffron party as it will lead to a division of the anti-BJP votes.
