With indications of elections in Uttar Pradesh being held in February coming in, the Samajwadi Party is now racing ahead of others when it comes to poll preparedness.
The party has already announced over 350 candidates for 403 Assembly seats and the remaining candidates are expected to be announced at the end of this month. The Samajwadi Party has also launched a campaign to iron out the differences, if any, among party cadres over the choice of candidates.
The BSP, which had taken an early lead in announcing candidates, is now doing a recheck by replacing majority of the nominees. The Congress has announced only 73 candidates while the BJP is yet to make a start.
When it comes to launching the election campaign, the SP has taken any early lead by launching the Kranti Yatra, led by state SP president Akhilesh Yadav, on September 12.
The yatra, which will embark on its second phase from September 19, has received an overwhelming response in the first phase — a reason for ample rejoicing by the Samajwadis.
“The huge crowds that greeted us in the first phase came as a surprise to most of us. It was very clear that people are rooting for a change of guard in UP and the Samajwadi Party is a clear favourite,” said a senior party leader.
While the Congress, BJP and even the BSP are not yet ready with a roadmap for the Assembly campaign, the SP has already drafted its plan.
In the first phase, Mr Akhilesh Yadav will tour the state in his yatra and then his visits to various constituencies will be backed up with programmes of senior party leaders. In the final phase, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav will take over the reins of the campaign. This means that by the time elections arrive, the SP will have covered the state thrice.
The BSP, on the other hand, is undecided about its campaign. “We have all the publicity ready for candidates but we are not yet sure how Ms Mayawati will be able to campaign,” said a party functionary.