UP parties in war of words over Amit Shah's comments

Lucknow, May 28: A war of wards has broken out among political parties in Uttar Pradesh after BJP national president Amit Shah said he saw "Samajwadi Party as the main challenger" to his party in the Assembly polls slated for next year.

"There is no contest for the top slot in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls as the ruling Samajwadi Party is all set to return to power," Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav claimed at a public meeting in Kaushambi on Saturday.

"The contest will be for the second and third place", he said and claimed that other states are out to copy the "UP model of development".

Samajwadi Party is all set to return to power: Akhilesh Yadav

On the other hand, BSP national general secretary Satish Chandra Misra said, "What Shah wants to say is that BJP and SP are fighting each other for the third and fourth place in UP polls... BSP is the clear front runner and is set to reclaim power and this will be achieved comfortably."

BJP's state unit president Keshav Prasad Maurya claimed the target of 265 plus Assembly seats will be achieved by his party in the 2017 elections.

In an interaction with media yesterday, Shah had stated that he considered the ruling Samajwadi Party as BJP's "main adversary because of its larger support base than Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party.

PTI