After inducting 11, Akhilesh Yadav shuts door on BJP MLAs

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said the party has shut its doors on BJP MLAs and ministers now. Hence, the BJP was free to go ahead and deny tickets to aspirants if it so desired.

A total of 11 BJP MLAs have joined the SP in the past few months. "I would like to tell the BJP that I will not take any BJP MLA or minister any more. They can go ahead and deny as many tickets as they want to," Yadav said. Soon after the BJP announced its first list of candidates, fielding CM Yogi Adityanath from his home turf Gorakhpur (urban), Yadav took a jibe at the move and said, "I am happy that the BJP has sent him home beforehand."

Gorakhpur is the hometown of Adityanath. He had been the MP from Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat since 1998 until he became the CM in 2017.