A day after he resigned from the Lok Sabha to stay as an MLA, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said the “sacrifice” was necessary to carry out the struggle against inflation, unemployment and social injustice. Yadav was elected to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly from Karhal in the just-concluded elections.

Before getting elected to the House, he represented Azamgarh as an MP in the Lok Sabha.

Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, Yadav said, “Crores of people of UP have given us a moral victory in the Assembly polls. To honour this, I will represent Karhal and always remain committed to the progress of Azamgarh.”

“This sacrifice is necessary for the struggle against inflation, unemployment and social injustice,” he added in his Hindi tweet.

Meanwhile, speculations are rife that he may take the responsibility of the leader of the opposition in the state Assembly.

The party has already called a meeting of newly elected MLAs and MLCs on March 26, a day after the swearing-in ceremony of the new Yogi Adityanath government.

By quitting as a Lok Sabha member, Yadav has sent out a signal that his focus is now on the state politics after his party suffered a defeat against the BJP in the Assembly polls, but emerged as the principal challenger.

Senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rampur MP Azam Khan, who like Yadav won in the Assembly polls, has also resigned from the Lok Sabha. Khan is currently in jail on criminal charges.

Akhilesh had won his maiden Assembly election, defeating Union minister S P Singh Baghel. During his tenure as the state chief minister, Yadav was a member of the UP Legislative Council.

The BJP and its allies retained power while the Samajwadi Party-led alliance bagged 125 seats in the Assembly polls, which turned out to be a bipolar contest.

Reports suggest that Akhilesh decision to concentrate on the state politics has been triggered by the fact that his remaining away from the state politics after victory in 2019 parliamentary polls had not gone down well for the party in the Assembly elections.

With the BSP and the Congress getting decimated in the state polls, many more poll battles are lined up in the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh before the 2024 General Election.

Elections to 36 state Legislative Council seats are scheduled for April 9.

Polls for 11 seats of the Rajya Sabha and the presidential election will take place by July this year.