Akhilesh Yadav resigns as LS member

New Delhi: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday resigned as the member of Lok Sabha from Azamgarh constituency, deciding to retain the Karhal assembly seat he won in the recently held Uttar Pradesh polls.

By quitting as a Lok Sabha member, Yadav has sent out a signal that his focus is now the state politics after his party suffered a big defeat against the BJP in the recent Assembly polls but emerged as the principal challenger. There were reports that Azam Khan, another Samajwadi Party MP who like Yadav won in the Assembly polls, has also resigned as Lok Sabha member but there was no confirmation from Speaker Om Birla’s office about this. Khan is currently in jail on criminal charges.Though an MP is generally required to submit his resignation in person so that the Speaker can verify from him that he is quitting voluntarily and not under duress, former Lok Sabha secretary general PDT Achary said the Chair can use other means also to convince himself about the bonafides of a member’s decision to resign if for some reason he cannot come personally. Yadav met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in Parliament House to quit.