"Stay There, Don't Come Back": Akhilesh Yadav's Swipe At Yogi Adityanath

"I like that the BJP has already sent him (the Chief Minister) to Gorakhpur. Yogi should stay there... there is no need for him to come from there," Akhilesh Yadav said

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav hit out at UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Saturday, minutes after the BJP said he would contest next month's election from his stronghold in Gorakhpur.

"Earlier they used to sometime say 'he will fight from Ayodhya' or 'he will fight from Mathura' or 'he will fight from Prayagraj'... now see... I like that the BJP has already sent him (the Chief Minister) to Gorakhpur. Yogi should stay there... there is no need for him to come from there," he said.

Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party has emerged as perhaps the biggest challenge to the BJP's UP re-election bid, with the former Chief Minister's "rainbow" alliance of regional parties from eastern UP (and, hopefully, votes from angry farmers from the west) threatening to oust the ruling party.

The two - Mr Yadav and Yogi Adityanath - have been locked in a bitter spat over the past few weeks and months; yesterday the Samajwadi leader aimed a series of jabs at his rival over the "80 vs 20" comment that was widely interpreted as a hint at the Hindu-Muslim ratio.