In an apparent bid to counter what the party views as the ruling BJP’s attempt to bring religious and emotive issues to the centre of political discourse, SP has decided to release a separate manifesto for each district, seeking voters’ attention to local and real issues.
Sources in SP said the party has deployed its prominent faces of various castes, including Lok Sabha members, across the state to ensure their presence in the ‘PDA panchayats‘ organised by its district units in villages. “SP’s top leaders mainly talk about the political representation of the marginalised castes concerned and assure them that their concerns will be addressed if SP forms the government after the polls,” an insider said.
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SP insiders said the party’s MP from Etah, Devesh Shakya, has been tasked with reading the voter mood by participating in PDA panchayats in 33 assembly seats in the districts of Aligarh, Hathras, Mainpuri, Kanpur Nagar and Kanpur Dehat. Apart from the MP, the local party faces of the Shakya caste also ensure their participation in such programmes.
“We want our leader Akhileshji to become the CM after the 2027 polls. The ongoing PDA panchayats attract an impressive crowd. People of different castes participate in our meetings,” MP Shakya told ET over the phone. SP is trying hard to connect with voters of other castes as well, including Kurmi, Maurya, Saini, Nishads, Prajapati and Pal/Gadariya.
Meanwhile, the party has asked all its district chiefs to identify at least five big problems for the preparation of district-wise manifestos. They have also been asked to prepare a report about the closed projects in their districts and possible ways for generating employment at the local level.Read more: People will wipe out Samajwadi Party in next UP assembly polls: Yogi Adityanath
The party wants to highlight issues like roads, irrigation, waterlogging, drinking water and electricity supply, former minister and senior SP leader Om Prakash Singh said. “This is a good idea to counter the emotional issues during the polls,” he said.
SP spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi said district-wise manifestos would pave the way for taking the real issues from ground level to the top. “If the SP forms the government after the 2027 assembly polls, it will be easier for it to address basic problems people face at the grassroots level,” Gandhi said.
Meanwhile, the party has accommodated every section of the society in its booth committees. “The party’s booth committee now accommodates 17 members. Earlier, the party used to select only 10 members for placing them in booth committees,” a party insider said.
