Smarting under the defeat in the bypolls, Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Singh Yadav on Thursday said he was ready to accept any challenge thrown at him by AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi. Akhilesh, heir apparent of the SP, lashed out at both Rahul and Raj Babbar, newly-elected Congress MP from Firozabad who defeated his wife Dimple.

“I accept the challenge thrown at us by the yuvraj of the Congress. The Congress has won the electoral battle in Firozabad, but my party and the people of the state will give a befitting reply to the Congress,” Akhilesh said.

“It’s erroneous to believe that the charisma of Rahul Gandhi worked wonders in Firozabad,” said Akhilesh, state president of the SP, adding that “if charisma of Rahul Gandhi was so captivating for the youth and the masses, why did the Congress lose its sitting Assembly seats of Jhansi and Padrouna and other eight Assembly seats?” He said: “The Congress managed to win the Lucknow (West) Assembly seat only due to the rebellion by BJP MP Lalji Tandon and his tacit support to the Congress.”

Holding the Congress responsible for backwardness of UP and echoing sentiments of Chief Minister Mayawati, he said, “Mere night halts will not solve the poverty and unemployment of the Dalits and by inviting foreigners like David Miliband to Dalit villages Rahul is only marketing the poverty of rural India.”

Taking a dig at Raj Babbar, he said, “Rahul claims to represent the youth and aspires to form a government comprising young persons, but he came to Firozabad to campaign for an old man. If there was a youth candidate in Firozabad, it was from the SP.”

... contd.