Akhilesh Yadav Challenges Yogi Adityanath to Contest Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election from Ayodhya

On October 8, 2026, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav addressed a Shrimad Bhagwat Katha gathering in Ayodhya and dared Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to file his candidacy for the upcoming state assembly election from the Ayodhya constituency. Yadav framed the challenge as a test of the chief minister’s confidence after the SP announced Pawan Pandey as its candidate for the seat two months earlier.

The HinduThe HinduHindustan TimesThe Indian Express'Contest UP polls from Ayodhya': Akhilesh Yadav dares CM Yogi Adityanath Akhilesh dares Yogi to contest from Ayodhya

• In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the SP captured the Faizabad (Ayodhya) parliamentary seat; candidate Awadhesh Prasad defeated BJP incumbent Lallu Singh by over 54,000 votes.

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• The current BJP MLA from Ayodhya is Ved Prakash Gupta, who won the 2022 assembly contest against SP’s Pawan Pandey.

The Hindu

• Yadav also referenced recent allegations that funds donated for the Ram Temple were misappropriated, a controversy that surfaced in June 2026.

Hindustan Times

• Vote margin (2024 Lok Sabha): SP win by > 54,000 votes in Faizabad.

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• Financial promise: SP pledges INR40,000 annually to each woman in Uttar Pradesh if it forms the state government.

The Hindu

• Akhilesh Yadav (SP president): Said the BJP has been “conducting survey after survey” since the SP announced its candidate and is “falling behind in every survey.” He urged the chief minister to “prove” his confidence by contesting the seat himself and promised a future SP government would halt demolition of homes, accelerate development, and give Ayodhya “global-level infrastructure.”

The Hindu

• Dinesh Dubey (BJP state leader): Countered that the BJP’s “fake narrative” misled voters in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls but that the party subsequently won assembly elections in several other states, projecting a victory of “over 300 seats” in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh poll.

The HinduThe HinduThe Indian Express'Contest UP polls from Ayodhya': Akhilesh Yadav dares CM Yogi Adityanath Hindustan Times

• “Ever since we announced our candidate, the BJP has been conducting survey after survey, and it is falling behind in every survey. We are hearing that they have not been able to find a new candidate for Ayodhya,” — Akhilesh Yadav

'Contest UP polls from Ayodhya': Akhilesh Yadav dares CM Yogi Adityanath

• “If the Chief Minister who makes big claims is so confident then he should contest the election from Ayodhya himself,” — Akhilesh Yadav

The Hindu

• “We have to protect the Constitution because the Constitution is today’s great epic poem of love and equality,” — Akhilesh Yadav

The Indian Express

• “In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, a section of voters fell into the trap of the opposition’s fake narrative. However, after the parliamentary elections, we won assembly elections in Haryana, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Bihar, among others. While the opposition secured seats there in the Lok Sabha, the reality is that voters soon realised they had made a mistake by backing the INDIA bloc.” — Dinesh Dubey

The Hindu

The SP’s challenge comes ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly election, for which the Election Commission has not yet announced a polling date. Both parties are expected to field candidates for the Ayodhya constituency in the forthcoming electoral calendar.

The Hindu