Posters pitching Akhilesh Yadav as ‘future PM’ surface in Lucknow ahead of his birthday

A hoarding proclaiming Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav as the ‘future Prime Minister’ of India surfaced outside the party’s Lucknow office ahead of the party chief’s birthday on July 1.

As per the visuals shared by the news agency ANI, a large poster of Kannauj MP with the words “Future Prime Minister Akhilesh Yadav” appeared in the state capital on Friday. As per the reports, the party members have put up a hoarding to celebrate the occasion after it registered a significant win in Uttar Pradesh in the recently held Lok Sabha polls.

The party secured victory in 37 seats out of 80 parliamentary seats in the state and its ally, the Congress, bagged six while the BJP won 33 and three more seats went to its partners — two to the RLD and one to the Apna Dal (S). Yadav won by a margin of 1,70,922 votes from Kannauj.

SP leader Awadhesh Prasad created a political sensation of sorts by winning the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat in Ayodhya district by defeating the two-time BJP MP Lallu Singh.

This is not the first time that such posters proclaiming Yadav as the future PM of the country have come up. Earlier in October 2023, similar poster had surfaced outside the party’s Lucknow office. It was put up by party spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan ‘Chaand’.

When asked about the motive behind putting such poster outside the party office, Fakhrul Hasan ‘Chaand’ said, “Akhilesh Yadav’s birthday is on July 1, but to express their love and respect towards their leader, Samajwadi Party workers celebrate his birthday multiple times.”

However, Yadav had dismissed the ‘Future PM’ hoardings featuring him that have been put up in Lucknow, saying no one is going to become the prime minister just by putting posters.

Before the 2019 general elections also, a similar hoarding sprung up in the state capital. Posters with slogans — “We trust Akhilesh to lead the state and the nation, the country needs a new PM” — were seen at various locations.

Who is Akhilesh Yadav?

Son of veteran leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh is currently serving as the Lok Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj. He previously served as the 20th chief minister of UP at the age of 38, being the youngest person to have held the office till date.

Earlier, he was elected as the Member of Legislative Assembly for Karhal in the 18th Vidhan Sabha before resigning, and has also been the Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from March 2022 to June 2024.