The emergence of a fledgling political outfit called the Peace Party in the Dumariaganj byelection has caused considerable unrest in the Samajwadi Party while it has given anxious moments to the Congress.
The Samajwadi Party was pushed to the fourth position in the byelections, results of which were announced on Monday, while the Peace Party which had fielded a political greenhorn, has ended up at the third position.
The Peace Party candidate polled 17.69 per cent votes while the Samajwadi Party lagged behind with 14.7 per cent votes and the Congress could manage only 12.9 per cent votes.
“The results in the Dumariaganj byelections have come as a rude shock because our candidate, Kamal Yusuf Malik, is a veteran politician in the region and wields considerable clout. This is a warning bell for the party which must gear up for the next UP elections,” admitted a senior SP leader.
Knives are also out for state SP president Akhilesh Yadav. Party leaders, who spoke on condition of anonymity, blame the young leader for his inability to strengthen the party organisation. “It has been exactly a year since Akhilesh Yadav took over as state party chief and we have lost all by-elections under his leadership. He has obviously failed to motivate the party cadres and instil confidence in the voters,” said a veteran SP leader, while stopping short of demanding a change of guard. The Samajwadis are smarting all the more at the defeat since they have been beaten in the electoral race by the Peace Party that is, incidentally, supported by their bête noire Amar Singh.
“This will give Amar Singh another chance to fire salvos at us,” said a SP functionary.
Though officially the spokesmen of the SP and the Congress attribute their parties’ defeat to a “large-scale misuse of official machinery by the Mayawati government”, the fact remains that the emergence of the Peace Party as a potent political force could upset the apple cart in the next Assembly elections. The Peace Party has succeeded in polarising Muslim votes in its favour to an extent and this could upset the SP-Congress calculations in the region.
The Congress leaders refuse to admit that this could be a major blow to Mr Rahul Gandhi’s effort to revive the party in UP in time for the next assembly polls but agree that the results are a blow to the party that had proclaimed that it was on the comeback trail. “This defeat does not nullify Mr Gandhi’s efforts. In fact, this indicates that overconfidence and infighting will not allow the party to regain lost ground,” said a former UPCC president.
and we have to work collectively if we want to make a mark in the next assembly polls. The defeat has taught us a lesson at the right time,” said a former UPCC president.