Smaller parties in Samajwadi Party’s 2022 poll plan

After its flat refusal to tie up with big parties for the upcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party is working on stitching together an alliance with small parties.
The primary objective of this move is to reach out to the crucial non-Yadav OBC category, as well as garnering the support of some tribal communities and consolidating its position among Muslims.

Apart from its declared alliances with Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal, Keshav Dev Maurya-led Mahan Dal and Sanjay Singh Chauhan's Janwadi Party, the Akhilesh Yadav-led party has also brought over the Krishna Patel and Pallavi Patel-led faction of the Apna Dal towards its side, along with the Gondwana Gantantra Party that works for the tribal community, particularly for the Gond tribe, ET has learnt. These parties have their clout in several pockets which the SP wants to capitalise on to fight against the BJP. .

The SP is also holding talks with small Muslim parties, even as party insiders refuse to acknowledge the likely impact of Asaduddin Owaisi on Muslim’s loyalty towards the SP.

The party's alliance with the RLD is expected to help it tap the Jat voter base against the background of resentment in western UP against the BJP over the farmer agitation as well as a delay in payment of cane dues. According to an SP insider, out of the 100-odd assembly seats in western UP, about 25-30 may be given to the RLD.

Similarly, the Mahan Dal, which has a considerable sway among the Shakya, Saini, Maurya and Kushwaha communities in western and eastern UP, is expected to bring in votes of some of the most backward castes that constitute about 14% of the overall OBC category, which itself makes for over 40% of the state's population. Since 2014, the BJP has been able to efficiently galvanise votes of this important category.

"We are confident of polling about 50,000 votes in each of at least 50 seats. Each vote polled by us will be a double loss for the BJP as its vote will not just get divided, it will get transferred to the SP," Mahan Dal chief Maurya told ET.

Maurya had allied with the Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, but broke it later over dissatisfaction in seat sharing. He said in the recently concluded zila panchayat elections, its candidates won 13 seats and in another 12, SP nominees supported by it got elected.

Pallavi Patel — the sister of Anupriya Patel whose Apna Dal (Sonelal) is an ally of the BJP — had met SP chief Yadav last month. The party has a following among Kurmis- another OBC category in the Purvanchal areas like Mirzapur, Varanasi and Chandauli etc.

The SP has also brought over the Gondwana Gantantra Party with which it has fought before in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. According to people in the know, the party may get 3-5 seats in all in certain districts where the community is found living- Sonbhadra, Ballia, Maharajganj, etc.

Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said on Friday that the SP's move to fight elections on the back of small parties reflected its "powerlessness", as the bigger parties had decided to not side with it for its "narrow-minded and anti-Dalit" mindset.