Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday quit as Lok Sabha member from eastern Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh, PTI reported. He submitted his resignation to Speaker Om Birla.

Yadav resigned from the Lower House of the Parliament as he was elected as the Member of Legislative Assembly from the Karhal seat in the recent Uttar Pradesh elections, ANI reported.

Soon after, Yadav said on Twitter that the democracy in India was under threat. “Expecting to protect democracy under BJP rule...is to find stars in the day,” he wrote.

His resignation brought down the number of Samajwadi Party members in Parliament to four, including his father Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Akhilesh Yadav will be leading the party in the state and play the role of the Opposition leader in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, PTI reported.

The president of Samajwadi Party will now focus on the 2027 Uttar Pradesh polls, NDTV reported.

In the recently-concluded elections in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP won 273 seats with the help of allies in the 403-member Assembly.

Samajwadi Party was a runner-up with having won 111 seats. Its allies Rashtriya Lok Dal and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party won eight and six seats each.

Also read: Five reasons why the Samajwadi Party failed to dislodge the BJP in Uttar Pradesh