The Samajwadi Party is facing the problem of plenty in Uttar Pradesh.
The party has multiple candidates for each Assembly constituency and with all top leaders having their own choices; it is getting increasingly difficult for the party leadership to accommodate them all.
The Samajwadi Party is facing the problem of plenty in about three dozen seats in the state. Candidates in some of these constituencies have been changed more than once and the rest are in the process of being changed.
As a result, candidates whose names have been finalised and announced, continue to spend more time in the party’s state headquarters than in their own constituencies.
“I have learnt that my opponents are building pressure to get my name cancelled. Hence, I am here to meet the top party leaders and apprise them about my rivals’ motives. I cannot go back to my constituency unless I am convinced that my candidature is safe,” said a SP candidate from Sultanpur.
In Saharanpur, a tug of war is on between senior SP leaders Rashid Masood and Mohammed Azam Khan with the latter insisting on his choice of candidates in the district. The situation has become so volatile that Rashid Masood is now threatening to walk out of the party.
A senior party leader admits, “The rush of candidates is because people are confident of the Samajwadi Party forming the next government in UP. When tickets are finalised, some aspirants are bound to be disappointed but we are trying to resolve the situation in every constituency. The party organisation is also being geared up to meet the challenges of the election.”
State SP president Akhilesh Yadav’s Kranti Yatra, in fact, will move from constituency to constituency to assess the situation in the party unit and iron out differences within.
The problem in the Samajwadi Party is getting compounded by the fact that the party has to make room for leaders who are coming in from other parties.
More than half-a-dozen BSP leaders have joined the Samajwadi Party and are angling for tickets.
“When influential leaders join the party, we have to give them tickets and this will need adjustments. In fact, more such leaders are expected to join the Samajwadi Party as soon as elections are announced and we have to keep seats for them too,” the leader added.