Yogi Adityanath challenges Akhilesh Yadav to face him in Ayodhya election

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath invited Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav to contest against him in Ayodhya at the state's forthcoming assembly election.

Speaking at a public event in Balrampur on October 10, Adityanath responded to a challenge Yadav had issued two days earlier. He called on his rival to file nomination papers in the same constituency.

Adityanath currently represents Gorakhpur Urban. Uttar Pradesh's assembly election is expected early next year. The rally remarks do not by themselves constitute completed candidate nominations.

Ayodhya forms part of the Faizabad parliamentary constituency, which the Samajwadi Party won in the 2024 national election. Awadhesh Prasad defeated the BJP's Lallu Singh in that contest.

Adityanath also criticised the previous Samajwadi Party government's management of the city and highlighted his administration's development efforts. He said the government had provided 9.5 lakh public-sector jobs to young people over nine-and-a-half years. That employment figure is the chief minister's claim.