Smarting under the defeat in the Lok Sabha and Assembly by-elections, Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Singh Yadav said on Thursday that he was ready to accept any challenge thrown at him by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

"I have not challenged anybody but if I am challenged, I will accept it," he said when asked if he was daring Rahul Gandhi politically, who is being credited for Raj Babbar's victory in the Lok Sabha by-elections in Firozabad.

Addressing a press conference along with his wife Dimple who lost out to Babbar, Yadav took a dig at the Congress leader, saying he congratulated Gandhi for Congress' victory in Firozabad but he should also accept the blame for his party's defeat in the Assembly bypolls in the state.

Congress has won only one out of 11 Assembly seats which went for bypolls in Uttar Pradesh.

Holding the Congress responsible for backwardness of Uttar Pradesh, Yadav said, "Spending a night at a Dalit's house will not do away with his poverty. These people should also tell them who is responsible for their condition."

He said while Congress had been campaigning for young leadership, they fielded "an old person" in Firozabad...SP's candidate (his wife Dimple Yadav) was the youngest in the fray.

Yadav, son of party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, alleged that BJP and Congress had a tacit understanding which led to SP's defeat in the by-elections. "BJP's votes were diverted to Congress".

The SP leader said that the party will review the reasons behind its defeat.

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