Akhilesh holds one-to-one meetings with leaders over SP's poll debacle

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav is holding one-to-one meetings with leaders and workers to find out the reasons for the party's poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP and its ally Apna Dal(S) won 64 of Uttar Pradesh's 80 Lok Sabha seats, while the SP and the BSP, which are in an alliance in the state, got 15 seats between them.

The SP president has held several rounds of meetings with party workers, polling agents and candidates, who lost in the election, to find out the reasons for the party's performance in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls, spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary told reporters. While the SP won five seats, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which drew a blank in 2014, won in 10 constituencies of the politically crucial state.

The SP chief has asked party leaders and workers not to be disheartened by the showing in the polls and has told them to concentrate on strengthening the SP at the grassroots, Chaudhary said. "He has asked SP leaders and workers to start preparations for the 2022 assembly polls," Chaudhary said. To a question, the spokesman said there have been no talks between Akhilesh and his father and SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav over the party's defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.

Chaudhary also said there has been no discussion over the loss or gain for the party by contesting the Lok Sabha polls.