The Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh finds itself amidst a whirlwind of candidate changes, swapping seven candidates across six crucial constituencies in the past fortnight, prompting worries over the party’s leadership indecisiveness.
While the party attributes these changes to local requests and voter sentiment, supporters are left bewildered and disheartened by the frequent alterations. Party elders, however, maintain that decisions are reached after extensive consultations with stakeholders in each constituency.
“A quick succession of candidate changes sends a negative message. It indicates a lack of confidence and could have detrimental effects on the party’s image,” remarked a senior SP leader.
In Meerut, the situation took a curious turn as the candidate changed thrice, culminating in Sunita Verma, former mayor, filing her nomination on the last day on Thursday. Initially, advocate Bhanu Pratap Singh was declared the candidate, only to be replaced by Sardhana MLA Atul Pradhan. Despite Pradhan filing his nomination, Verma ultimately took his place.
Moradabad witnessed a similar perplexing scenario when sitting MP ST Hasan was replaced by Ruchi Veera, a choice of veteran leader Azam Khan. Efforts to reinstate Hasan before the nomination deadline proved futile.
Similar perplexity gripped Rampur, where Khan’s preferred candidate, Asim Raja, was sidelined in favour of Maulana Moibullah Nadvi, the Imam of Parliament Street Jama Masjid in Delhi. Speculations even surfaced regarding the potential candidacy of Akhilesh Yadav’s nephew, Tej Pratap Yadav, from Rampur. Baghpat, Gautam Budh Nagar, and Bijnor also saw candidate changes amidst speculations and strategic considerations, unsettling party members.
In Baghpat, Amarpal Sharma was initially declared as the SP candidate but was replaced by Manoj Chaudhary. In Gautam Budh Nagar, Mahendra Singh Nagar gave way to Rahul Awana, only to be reinstated by SP leadership on March 30. Similarly, in Bijnor, Yashvir Singh was replaced by Deepak Saini, son of sitting SP MLA Ram Avtar Saini from Noorpur.
RLD chief Jayant Chaudhry criticised the SP’s approach, referring to it as a “musical chairs” game in a social media post. He wrote a post on X saying, “Congratulations to the “lucky ones in the Opposition (who) will get a chance, for a few hours” to contest in the 2024 general election.
In a significant development, Shivpal Yadav’s son, Aditya Yadav, is poised to enter electoral politics, potentially succeeding his father as the party’s candidate for the Baduan parliamentary seat. This follows a resolution from the Gunnaur Assembly segment, indicating a shift towards younger leadership within the party.
Party had already declared Shivpal Singh Yadav, Chacha of Akhilesh Yadav as candidate from Budaun, but Aditya’s entry further enhances the Yadav clan’s political influence in Uttar Pradesh, with several family members already holding significant positions within the State.
As the Lok Sabha elections draw nearer, the SP faces the challenge of electoral competition and maintaining unity amid these last-minute changes and internal shifts.
