Samajwadi Party aimed to stop BJP; voting done to save democracy": Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 5 : After securing the maximum number of seats in Uttar Pradesh in the 18th Lok Sabha elections Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav asserted that the party aimed to stop Bhartiya Janat Party and asserted that the voting was done to protect the Constitution, democracy and reservation.
Speaking with ANI, Akhilesh Yadav said, "SP's target was to stop BJP. I thank the public for this and their cooperation. The votes were cast to save the Constitution, democracy and reservation, and we hope that by walking on the path of social justice we will be able to fulfil the dreams of Netaji (Subhas Chandra Bose) and Samajwadis."
On being asked if the INDIA alliance will try to form government at the Centre, Yadav said, "Yes, I am going to Delhi. It is all a matter of numbers (government formation)."
The former Chief Minister further claimed that the public has rejected negative politics. "There has been voting against the negative politics. The voting has been in the direction of positive politics, to get social justice, saving democracy, and reservation, and making the Constitution better. BJP has always worked to hurt the Constitution," Yadav said.
Notably, Akhilesh Yadav defeated BJP's Subrat Pathak with a margin of 1,70,922 votes. Yadav garnered 6,42,292 votes while Pathak received 4,71,370 votes.
Declaration of results of the 18th Lok Sabha election in the 543-member Parliament saw the BJP-led NDA winning 294 seats and the INDIA bloc bagging 234 seats. A party or coalition requires a simple majority of 272 seats to form the government.
According to the Election Commission of India, the BJP won 240 seats, much lower than its 2019 tally of 303. The Congress, on the other hand, registered a strong growth, winning 99 seats.