The resignations of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and senior party leader Mohd Azam Khan as members of Lok Sabha have been accepted, Speaker Om Birla informed the House on Wednesday. The two SP leaders had tendered their respective resignations to Birla on Tuesday.

Birla said the resignations were accepted with effect on March 22.

Akhilesh represented Azamgarh in Lok Sabha and preferred to retain the Karhal assembly seat he won in the just concluded assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

With the two resignations, the SP now has three members in Lok Sabha, including party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Azam Khan represented Rampur in the lower house and he too decided to retain the assembly seat he won during the UP polls.