The samajwadi party has started giving final shape to its strategy for the next Vidhan Sabha elections of 2017 with indications are that it might drop at least 50 sitting legislators who have failed to perform as per the expectations of people and the party leaders. A senior leader told The Pioneer that backroom operations have started to finalise candidates. The legislators were told in no uncertain terms that those who have failed to perform will not get ticket this time.
“There would not be any sitting-getting formula. There are at least 50 legislators who have been put on notice as ground report against them is not very encouraging. A few of them are those who had joined SP before last assembly elections and had failed to imbibe Samajwadi policies,” the leader said. He said that Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is regularly gathering reports from the party workers and people about the performance of legislators and ministers. Based on that feed back the party leadership has made up its mind to get rid of non-performing legislators and instead youths should be tried.
last week Yadav held a meeting with the office-bearers of the frontal organizations of Samajwadi party at his official residence. He asked them to get ready to take a plunge in an electoral battle. They were even asked to go to their kshetra (regions) and do ground work. The elections might be almost two years away but preparations have started in right earnest in the party. The party has also started focusing on around 170 seats that it lost in last assembly elections. Interested candidates have been asked to submit their bio-data. Over 1000 people have applied for the tickets after paying Rs 10,000 as fees. A thinking going on in the party is that SP needs to win at least half of these seats.
“The equation is very simple. If we want to win at least 220 seats we will have to target those seats that we lost by close margins. SP being a ruling party will face anti-incumbancy and is bound to lose some of the seats it had won last time. To minimize the damage party has decided to change non-performing legislators,” the leader said. Party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhry, who is also Cabinet rank minister in UP Government, said SP Government has changed the face of UP. People are talking about improvement in health services, law and order and improvement in delivery system. “WE will take some decision at party forum but at administrative level UP is number one,” he said.