With the realignment of balance of power within the first family of the Samajwadi Party which has resulted in rise in stature of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and marginalisation of his uncle and State president of the party Shivpal Yadav, the ruling party is all set to reconsider the list of the candidates already announced.
Not only had the candidates of many seats already been announced, as much as 40 per cent of the sitting MlAs may be axed for the next Assembly elections. The revised list of the party candidates is likely to be finalised by the mid-December.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is all set to have a significant role in the selection of the candidates. The supporters of Akhilesh Yadav who were axed in October and denied ticket are likely to be accommodated as the party candidates. The Samajwadi party sources said besides chief minister, his two uncles Shivpal and Ram Gopal Yadav will be involved in the process of the selection of the candidates, party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav however will take the final call on this issue.
SP sources said Akhilesh Yadav is upbeat over the electoral prospects of the Samajwadi party following the ground swell of resentment among the people particularly in rural areas due to the severe hardships faced by them following the demonetisation of the high value currency notes by the Centre on November 8. A senior SP leader said RsRs the electoral scenario has undergone radical change after the ban of currency and its going to be SP Vs BJP and Bahujan Samaj party to finish poor third’’.
Akhilesh Yadav was particularly peeved over then denial of tickets to his supporters by state president in October last. Candidates of close to a dozen seats were changed and were replaced by the supporters of Shivpal Yadav.
Akhilesh Yadav took serious exception of the party’s decision as he was not kept in loop by the state president Shvipal Yadav. Sources said all the candidates. In September Shivpal Yadav had replaced Akhilesh Yadav as the state president of the party. The change had intensified the power struggle within the first family of the party. Akhilesh Yadav had publically stated that he being leader of the party would like to have a role in the selection of the candidates for the assembly elections. SP sources said Shivpal Yadav has also given his consent for the review of the list of the candidates. The change has occurred following the melting of the ice in the relations between Shivpal Yadav and his cousin brother Ram Gopal Yadav, the party leader in Rajya Sabha who was recently readmitted in the party after his expulsion from the party in October last. Shivpal Yadav recently held several rounds of meeting with Ram Gopal Yadav where a broad consensus was reached over the change of candidates.
Samajwadi Party had started the process of identifying and announcing the candidates in March 2015. The candidates were however announced only for the seats the ruling party had lost in 2012 assembly elections. SP has so far announced candidates for 175 seats. SP has already completed the organisational exercise for the selection of the candidates. SP in July last had sent a team of two MlCs to each division which explored the electoral prospects of the sitting MlAs of the party. The report has already been submitted to the party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav. The MlCs had made very harsh recommendation suggesting denial of tickets to at least 50 percent of the sitting MlAs as an effective tool to fight the anti incumbency against the next assembly elections.