Akhilesh Yadav said the bypoll losses were a message to the BJP. (File)
A day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called for simultaneous elections, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav today dared the BJP-led central government to hold Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the state simultaneously in 2019.
"We have no problem if the voters' list is linked with Aadhaar number. We have no problems with 'one nation one election'. I ask them (BJP) to implement 'one nation one election' from 2019 itself and hold UP assembly polls with the 2019 Lok Sabha elections," he said in a press conference.
The Bharatiya Janata Party lost two crucial bypolls in Uttar Pradesh recently. The party lost the Kairana parliamentary bypoll and the Noorpur assembly by-election last month.
Before these losses, the party had lost the Lok Sabha by-elections to Gorakhpur and Phulpur. While Gorakhpur is the home turf of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Phulpur was held by his deputy, Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Talking about the BJP's recent defeats, he said: "Their victory is a strong message against the BJP, which is doing nothing for the welfare of the people".
Replying to a question related to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Mr Yadav said it will be fought on the basis of issues.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Tuesday that elections held at different times hamper development due to the implementation of the model code of conduct and deployment of personnel.
"State polls, general elections and by-polls held at different times hamper development due to the Model Code of Conduct and deployment of election staff and security personnel. The Prime Minister has started a campaign for all elections to be held at the same time so that we don't spend on elections every five years," Mr Adityanath had said.
With inputs from PTI