After a series of failed political experiments during the previous two Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, Samajwadi Party is busy crafting a new social coalition with the aim of winning over the significant Dalit community.

The Samajwadi Party, like the Bharatiya Janata Party, is focusing on the non-Jatav Dalit community and is wooing the Pasi community, the second biggest numerically big caste among the Dalits. 

The SP has drafted its senior leader from the Pasi community, Avadesh Prasad, for spearheading the campaign to woo Dalits. Avadhesh Prasad, a former minister, is nine term MLA of the UP assembly. He is also the national general secretary of the SP.

The SP has announced to organise week-long programmes to celebrate the birth anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar on April 14 at a grand scale at party offices across the state. The SP intends to send a message to Dalits that only the SP can protect their interests, rights and privileges given to them by the Constitution.

Sources in the SP said that party president Akhilesh Yadav was confident that significant sections of the Dalit community disappointed with the Bahujan Samaj party would prefer the SP rather than the BJP.

Earlier on March 15, the SP celebrated the birth anniversary of BSP founder Kanshi Ram at its state headquarters in Lucknow. SP state president Naresh Uttam, former minister Swami Prasad Maurya and other leaders offered floral tributes to the late Dalit leader and spoke about his contribution to organising and empowering the Scheduled Caste in Uttar Pradesh and other states and social reforms. The party also paid tributes to Kanshi Ram by organising “Manyawar Kanshi Ram Jayanti Samaroh” in every district.

These events followed SP president Akhilesh Yadav’s March 12 remark that the BSP had forgotten the path shown by Dr Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram, and now it functioned like a ‘B-team’ of the BJP.

In another message to Dalits, the SP, during its national executive meeting in  Kolkata , had given a seat to veteran party MLA Avadhesh Prasad, a Dalit from the Pasi caste, next to party chief Akhilesh Yadav on the dais.

Before leaving Lucknow for the meeting, the SP chief had tweeted a selfie with Prasad, and his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav.

The sources said Avadhesh Prasad was being given importance at the party platform.

SP president Akhilesh Yadav has ruled out the possibility of having any truck with the BSP. He also attacked the Mayawati-led party, alleging that “tickets of the BSP are decided by the BJP”,

In 2019, the SP had contested the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the BSP, but the parties had separated after the elections.

Avadhesh Prasad claimed that Dalits were leaning towards the SP as it was the only party that could protect the Constitution and democracy in the country.

“BSP president Mayawati has lost the path shown by Kanshi Ram for the uplift and welfare of Dalits. Hence, Dalits are seeing the SP as their only viable alternative platform, and their trust in the SP has only increased,” Prasad said.

SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said while the party had celebrated Dr Ambedkar’s birth anniversary in the past too, but the next time, it would be celebrated across the state. About Kanshi Ram’s birth anniversary celebrations, Chaudhary said, “Manyawar Kanshi Ram was with us. He was elected MP from Etawah in 1991 with Netaji’s (Mulayam Singh Yadav’s) support.”