A shell-shocked Samajwadi Party, after strings of defeats in Assembly byelections, is now to take inspiration from its arch rival, the BSP. Taking note of the fact that the party’s organisation is nowhere to match the ruling BSP in UP, the SP is now setting out to replicate the Mayawati-led party structure in a bid to infuse the much-needed strength in the ranks of the party workers.
The SP, which is still engrossed in soul-searching after the humiliating defeat in the Dumariyaganj Assembly byelection where the party finished a poor fourth, has set out on the task of revamping the party structure.
“The focus will be to ramp up the rank and file of the party workers at the booth level in each of the Assembly constituencies. The strategy is to match the BSP’s astute poll management, which is based on the principle of placing effective cadre at the booth levels,” stated a senior SP functionary.
With the 2012 Assembly elections looming large, the SP is taking stock of the impact of a large number of party workers having changed loyalties in the recent times, with many having joined its arch rival, the BSP.
“There is still time for damage control. The organisational strength appears to have been depleted. The SP workers are leaving for other parties. This needs to be stemmed in time, else the party is staring at the prospect of losing the plot of the 2012 Assembly elections,” added the party functionary.
SP state unit chief Akhilesh Yadav has been tasked with the responsibility to pick formidable party workers to lead various committees at the booth level as a model to be replicated at block and district levels.
Though the SP leaders have officially dismissed the BSP winning almost all the Assembly byelections after last year’s Lok Sabha polls, the party insiders concede that Ms Mayawati’s poll management at the micro level has placed the BSP far ahead of rivals in the state.
“The SP leaders have been campaigning hard in all of these byelections but the party has failed to come with any answer to the BSP’s scale of micro-management of the poll. The party will now focus on this aspect to retrieve itself from the current state of affairs,” stated the party functionary.