Samajwadi Party eyes non-Yadav OBCs, Dalits in overhaul of Uttar Pradesh poll strategy
The seat-wise marking is at the ideation level, with strategists noting that there are at least 15 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh where candidates from the Yadav community contested on the Samajwadi Party ticket in the last polls and lost
The Samajwadi Party (SP), the main Opposition in Uttar Pradesh, is considering a strategic overhaul for the upcoming Assembly polls, six months away, according to schedule. The party is looking to field candidates from non-Yadav Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Dalits in seats previously won by its core voter base - Yadavs and Muslims.
Strategists estimate there are at least 15 such Assembly seats where Yadav candidates lost in the last polls due to anti-Yadav polarization. The party believes that giving tickets to non-Yadav OBCs or Dalits could increase their chances of winning in these Yadav-dominated seats. For instance, in the Etah Assembly seat, where the Yadav community electorate is over 60,000, the SP candidate lost both in 2017 and 2022 by over 17,000 votes.
Similarly, in Mainpuri, where Raju Yadav lost by over 6,000 votes in 2022, the party suggests that replacing the Yadav candidate could have led to a victory by over 15,000 votes. To convince the Yadav community to accept this change, the party is reaching out to local Yadav elders and emphasizing it as a crucial battle for the Chief Minister's chair.
The party also cites the success of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, where five Yadav candidates were elected, all of whom won. Furthermore, the SP is considering fielding candidates from Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Dalit communities on General seats in every second district, citing the victory of a Dalit candidate in the Faizabad (Ayodhya) Lok Sabha seat in 2024.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
