'Future PM Akhilesh Yadav': Poster come up in Lucknow ahead of SP chief's birthday

LUCKNOW: A hoarding portraying Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav as the "future Prime Minister" was put up outside the party headquarters in Lucknow.

Prior to his birthday on July 1, party workers displayed numerous posters outside SP office. Reports suggest that party members erected the hoarding to celebrate the party's significant victory in Uttar Pradesh during the recent Lok Sabha elections.
The Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance secured 43 Lok Sabha seats, limiting the BJP and its partners to only 34, a decline of approximately 29 seats compared to their performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when they won 64 seats.
Akhilesh Yadav defeated BJP’s sitting MP by 1,70,076 votes. He secured 6,40,207 votes while Subrat Pathak got 4,70,131 votes. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, there were 15 candidates contesting from Kannauj Lok Sabha constituency.
SP leader Awadhesh Prasad caused a political stir by defeating two-time BJP MP Lallu Singh in the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat in Ayodhya district.
This is not the first instance of posters proclaiming Yadav as the country's future PM. Earlier, on June 4 similar poster had surfaced depicting party chief Akhilesh Yadav as the 'PM to be' seen during the celebrations in Kannauj.
In October 2023, the Samajwadi Party's Lucknow office showcased a poster resembling the previous one, put up by Fakhrul Hasan 'Chaand', a party spokesperson. When questioned about the motive behind the poster, Hasan stated, "Akhilesh Yadav's birthday is on July 1, but to express their love and respect towards their leader, Samajwadi Party workers celebrate his birthday multiple times."
Chaand further said that the party workers are hoping and praying for Akhilesh Yadav to become the Prime Minister of India, enabling him to serve the people of the nation.
However, Yadav dismissed the "Future PM" hoardings featuring him in Lucknow, stating that no one becomes prime minister merely by putting up posters.
Similar hoardings with slogans such as "We trust Akhilesh to lead the state and the nation, the country needs a new PM" were also seen at various locations in the state capital before the 2019 general elections.