Most do not even have an election symbol, will fight elections only on a bicycle print
Lucknow . For the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election-2022, the political parties are making a strategy to stop the BJP. The Samajwadi Party has suffered heavy losses in the last few elections due to alliances with major political parties like Congress and BSP. In view of this, the Akhilesh Yadav-led party has decided to work with smaller parties in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Most of these parties do not even have election symbols. Due to this, most of their candidates will contest elections on cycle print only.
Parties like Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), Mahan Dal and Janwadi Party, which have influence in different parts of the state, are all set to formalize the seat-sharing formula with SP in the coming days. Huh. The RLD, led by Jayant Choudhary, is already in alliance with the SP. With no representation in the outgoing UP assembly, the party hopes that the farmers’ movement will help it bring the Muslims and Jats of western UP on a single platform.
According to media reports, RLD spokesperson Sunil Lohta said, ‘The atmosphere has changed in western UP. Farmers and laborers have now joined hands. Together with Samajwadi Party, we will defeat BJP in this region. SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar announced an alliance with the SP after meeting Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow. The party has a support base among the Rajbhars, who have a significant presence in Varanasi and its adjoining districts such as Ghazipur, Azamgarh and Mau. In the 2017 assembly elections, the SBSP team was in the BJP and contested eight seats, winning four of them. With SBSP as an ally, the SP is hopeful of garnering Rajbhar’s votes.
The Mahan Dal, started in 2008 by Keshav Dev Maurya, claims to have influence among Kushwahas, Shakyas and Sainis. Earlier, it was in alliance with the Congress during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and contested two seats. Maurya has been working closely with the SP for the past one year. Maurya told ET, “I cannot disclose the numbers, but we have demanded very few seats. It is not about contesting more seats. It is about the SP winning the assembly elections.” He claimed that he can help the SP with a few thousand votes in around 100 constituencies.
The Janwadi Party (Samajwadi) led by Sanjay Chauhan has been active in parts of eastern UP for the past few years. In 2019, Chouhan contested the Lok Sabha elections from Chandauli on an SP ticket and lost to the BJP candidate by nearly 14,000 votes. Chouhan claims that his community is becoming politically aware through his party and will bring about a change in the 2022 elections. Chouhan said, “We are planning a big rally of our community in Lucknow on November 25. In the rally you will get to see what we have been able to do at the grassroots level.
SP leader and MLC Udayveer Singh said, “It is all about adding more votes to Aadhaar. Earlier, SP was targeted by saying that we were not giving representation to smaller castes and communities. Now, we are giving them both space and representation. These parties are our natural allies.” Some other parties that SP has approached for an alliance are Apna Dal (Krishna Patel), Peace Party and Azad Samaj Party.
