Akhilesh makes all-out effort to catapult SP to No. 3 position in MP

Lucknow: Despite Samajwadi Party (SP) not having any major political presence in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, it is still confident of becoming the third single largest party after Congress, one of its opposition INDIA bloc allies, and the BJP in the November 17 Assembly elections there.

SP National President Akhilesh Yadav has made several visits to Madhya Pradesh to ensure that his party becomes the third single largest party there.

However, initially the political strategy of SP was to strengthen its political presence in the poll-bound state with the help of stitching an alliance with Congress. But Congress squandered SP's political chances by having differences over seat-sharing arrangement. There is a neck-to-neck political fight between the BJP and Congress in Madhya Pradesh, but SP wants to make its presence felt in the electoral field by fighting the Assembly polls there.

Political experts say that the influence of SP in Madhya Pradesh is not as much as that of the two single largest parties -- BJP and Congress -- but the party has emerged as the fourth single largest party after Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in terms of vote share. The SP has a sizeable vote bank in Bundelkhand, especially Tikamgarh and Niwari districts of Madhya Pradesh bordering Uttar Pradesh.

The SP's best poll performance was witnessed during the 2003 Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, when seven of its party MLAs were elected to the Assembly.

The SP has a strong voter base in the Vindhya and Bundelkhand regions bordering Uttar Pradesh. There are 26 Assembly seats in Bundelkhand region alone. This belt is adjacent to Uttar Pradesh's Etawah. The party has strong influence among the people of Madhya Pradesh in Bhind and Chambal divisions.

According to election data, Congress had emerged as the single largest party in the 2018 Assembly polls, but was far away from getting majority-mark. In such a situation, Congress had formed the government in the state with the support of BSP and SP MLAs. In the 2018 Madhya Pradesh Assembly election, SP had secured 1.3 per cent votes with its party MLA winning only one seat.

A senior SP leader has said that in Madhya Pradesh, Congress gave 'step-fatherly' treatment to the SP by not giving it the desired number of seats it demanded if it formed a post-poll alliance with it. Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath spoke rudely about the SP National President while speaking to a media reporter there. It was as if Kamal Nath did not know Akhilesh Yadav, whereas the truth is that Congress has saved its own government in the state from getting toppled earlier with the SP coming to its rescue.

This statement by Kamal Nath has upset the central leadership of SP. That is why the Uttar Pradesh-based party has decided that they contest on all seats alone to send across the message among the people of Madhya Pradesh that they could emerge as the 'kingmaker' in forming the government there.

The SP is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that it emerges as the third single largest party after the BJP and Congress. Akhilesh Yadav has entered the electoral field with this objective in mind. In the upcoming Assembly polls, SP is getting more support from the people of Madhya Pradesh than before, said Yadav.

The SP Chief said during the 2018 Assembly elections that even though SP could win only one seat by getting 1.3 per cent vote share as a whole, it came a distant second on five seats and occupied the third position on four seats. SP bagged more votes than the win-loss margin on many seats, he added.

In the 2018 Assembly polls, Congress had lost the Maihar Assembly constituency located in the Vindhya region by a margin of 2,984 votes. In Maihar, the SP candidate got 11,202 votes. Paraswada, Balaghat, Gudh, including five Assembly seats, SP candidates finished at second position while Congress occupied the third position. In Niwari, SP stood second and Congress came in fourth. It can be estimated from this data that SP's support base among the people of Madhya Pradesh is increasing with each state election.

Regarding the Madhya Pradesh elections, Akhilesh Yadav said, "Congress does not want us (Samajwadi Party) to become their ally. Congress had the opportunity to send across the message of an opposition alliance by taking smaller parties along, but they (Congress) think that the public is standing with them. If so, now 'PDA' will give them an answer this time."

Akhilesh Yadav on June 21 explained that 'PDA' is the name of the unity born out of shared consciousness and feeling against the exploitation and oppression of those who are "pichre (backward)", Dalit and "alpsankhyak ( minority)".

Akhilesh is confident that this time his party will perform well in the forthcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls and will play the role of kingmaker in deciding the formation of government there.

Senior political analyst Ratanmani Lal says that Akhilesh Yadav has a chance to come back to power in Uttar Pradesh in the 2027 Assembly polls. For this reason, he has chosen the path of joining the opposition INDIA bloc for a stake in getting a share in the government at the Centre, but now he is facing extreme difficulty in this objective.

"The SP is unable to stitch an alliance with the Congress. But Akhilesh Yadav wants to send across a message to his party cadres that the party is trying to increase its political imprints at the national level. For this reason he is actively participating in the Madhya Pradesh elections."

"He (Akhilesh Yadav) believes that there is a chance to form an "anti-BJP" government outside Uttar Pradesh. So his party would definitely like to participate in it. Even if he (Akhilesh) gets a chance to come to power as a smaller ally, he would still like to take a political gamble on it, " Lal said.

Another political analyst Virendra Singh Rawat says that it does not make any difference if SP contests elections against Congress in Madhya Pradesh. For this reason, Congress is not giving any statements against SP, he adds.

"As SP does not have any significant political presence in Madhya Pradesh, it still wants to project itself as a significant political player in forming the government in Madhya Pradesh. With the help of this poll performance, SP wants to strengthen itself in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. The SP wants to set their political agenda by registering a strong poll performance in the upcoming Madhya Pradesh polls.