After a series of setbacks since the UP Assembly elections held in March this year, the Samajwadi Party seems to be gaining some political traction as its two estranged allies —Janwadi Party (Socialist) and Mahan Dal — have shown inclination to return to the Akhilesh Yadav-led opposition alliance.
The two regional parties are interested to join hands with the Samajwadi Party for taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The two OBC caste-based regional parties, which were SP allies in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls but had left the alliance after its defeat in the election, were all praise for the SP chief.
The development comes days after the exit of Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) from the SP-led alliance. While the Janwadi Party (Socialist) says it is strongly with Akhilesh Yadav and gearing up for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Mahan Dal has praised the SP chief and is ready to return with one condition -- removal of Swami Prasad Maurya, MLC.
JP(S) president Sanjay Chauhan said, "Akhilesh ji ke saath hain aur rahenge (We are with Akhilesh and will remain with him).
Chauhan, who, after the Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha bypolls, had said he would reconsider alliance with the SP and had also criticised Akhilesh Yadav for not campaigning for the party candidates, has now softened his tone and tenor.
Chauhan contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election on an SP ticket from Chandauli but lost by a thin margin. He had secured about five lakh votes. Chauhan belongs to OBC Loniya Chauhan community. The Noniyas and its connected castes are estimated to be 2.3 per cent of the state's OBC population. The population of the Loniya Chauhans may not appear significant on its own but they are one of the many smaller clusters of the backward caste votes which the BJP has been trying to polarise against the Yadav caste, the support base of the SP.
Mahan Dal president Keshav Dev Maurya, who left the SP alliance earlier, said that he was not upset with Akhilesh Yadav and praised his work.
“I am not angry or upset with Akhilesh Yadav or his policies. In UP, there is BJP on one side and SP on the other. While the Congress has no presence, the Bahujan Samaj Party chief is working as a B-team of the BJP. Akhileshji is doing good work in the interest of backwards, minority and other sections. He is the only leader left," Maurya said.
The Mahan Dal chief said Swami Prasad Maurya, Shivpal Singh Yadav and Om Prakash Rajbhar were "planted" by the BJP in the SP-led alliance before the assembly elections and due to them Akhilesh Yadav tasted defeat in the polls.
"They (Swami Prasad, Rajbhar and Shivpal) made Akhilesh overconfident and he started saying the alliance will be winning 400 seats," he said, driving home his point.