He later floated a new political party, Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), and contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on its symbol from Firozabad.
Accusing the BJP of using deceit for defeating the Mahagathbandhan’ (led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal) in the recently concluded Bihar assembly elections, Akhilesh Yadav said, “The maximum public support was seen at the Mahagathbandhan rallies and all the surveys hinted towards a historic victory for it. But, when the EVMs were opened for the counting of votes, the results were stopped midway and the victory certificates were handed to someone else.”
When asked about the performance of the SP in the recently held bypolls to seven assembly seats in UP, Akhilesh Yadav said, “When the elections are contested by the election officers, superintendents of police, additional district magistrates, SHOs and police jawans, who will win then.