Samajwadi Party has blamed the irregularities, partisan conduct of the Election Commission of India, flawed electoral rolls and doubtful conduct of the presiding officers at the polling centres for its defeat in the March 2022 UP assembly elections.
SP candidates who lost the election also pointed out that the party’s decision to stay away from the funeral and failure to condole the death of former Chief Minister Kalyan Singh also alienated the dominant Lodh Other Backward Class social group and cost over 20 assembly seats to the party.
Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday presided over a marathon meeting here to review the UP assembly election results and find the reasons for SP failure to reach the magic numbers to form the government.
“The conduct of the Election Commission of India was far from non-partisan and the poll panel never took cognisance of the complaints by the SP about the irregularities during the seven phases of polling in the UP assembly elections,” Akhilesh Yadav said.
Alleging irregularities in the electoral rolls, the SP chief said, “The names of a large number of voters were missing from electoral rolls and the presiding officers at the polling centres also helped the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in a big way and damaged the electoral interests of the Samajwadi Party.”
Akhilesh Yadav also accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of spreading communal hatred, saying , “The RSS left no stone unturned to spread rumours and canards with the objective of polarising the electorate on communal lines.”
Admitting that the BJP had made deep inroads into the Dalit and OBC vote bank, the SP chief said, “We will have to concentrate on winning the various social groups within the OBC category back to the party fold. We must learn from our mistakes and shortcomings in the last election and take corrective measures.”
Asking the party leaders to work for expanding the support base of the party, Akhilesh Yadav said, “The party rank and file should start working to increase the vote share of the party and start making preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and 2027 UP assembly elections.”
He also emphasised the need for strengthening the party organisation at the grassroots level and expanding the cadre at polling booth level.
Training his guns at the BJP, the SP chief said, “The ruling party set a fake narrative about development, investment and job creation even when the youth are struggling for employment and the farmers remain an exploited lot.”
“There is no change in the attitude and style of functioning of the BJP even as the party has been voted back to power for the second consecutive term in office. The people of the state are being taken for a ride with a fake narrative of development and it is the duty of the rank and file of the Samajwadi Party to expose the divisive, deceitful agenda of the BJP.”
The meeting at the SP state office here was attended by all the loser and winner candidates of 2022 UP assembly elections, heads of various frontal organisations of SP and party office-bearers.