Yogi Adityanath's Deputy On Akhilesh Yadav's "Become Chief Minister Offer"

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya hit back at Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav's offer and said that neither he (Yadav) will become nor he will be able to make anyone else the Chief Minister of UP.

"Samajwadi Party President Shri Akhilesh Yadav..You will not become the chief minister, nor you will be able to make anyone else. Your (Akhilesh Yadav) statements show that you are not only agitated/annoyed but have also lost your mind by the defeat in Mainpuri and Rampur," Mr Maurya said in a tweet on Friday.

"Public has already rejected the cycle (SP's election symbol), and you will not be able to overpower and capture booths," he said.

Mainpuri Lok Sabha and Rampur assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to go to bypolls on December 5.

Chief Minister Maurya's tweet comes a day after SP chief Akhilesh Yadav took a jibe at the UP's Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, and said that they were looking for an opportunity to become Chief Minister, but have "failed".

"There are 2 Deputy CMs in the state. Both of them are looking for an opportunity to become CM," Mr Yadav had said while addressing a public rally in Rampur ahead of by-polls in support of SP candidate on Thursday.

Mr Yadav further "offered" to both Deputy Chief Ministers and said, "We have come to give them an offer. Take 100 MLAs from us, we are with you, become CM whenever you want."

Mr Yadav also said that the BJP government of the state should not be so harsh on the Opposition party that it would become "vindictive" when it returns to power.

"Those who are committing injustice, I want to tell them that the CM's (Yogi Adityanath) file had come to me (During my tenure). It was said in the file that he should be booked and proceeded against. But, we do not engage in the politics of hate and vindictiveness. We returned the file. Now do not harden us so much that when we come to power, we will do what you are doing to us," Mt Yadav said while issuing a threat to the Yogi government.

Dimple Yadav, the wife of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting the Mainpuri bypolls and is believed to carry the legacy of her father-in-law Mulayam Singh Yadav in the constituency.

Mainpuri seat, considered a stronghold of the Samajwadi Party, fell vacant on October 10 following the death of Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The polling for the bypoll will take place on December 5 and the votes will be counted on December 8, coinciding with the result dates of the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)