Enthused by the good turnout of the veteran socialist in the two programmes organized by the Samajwadi party this month, the ruling Samajwadi party has decided to accelerate the process of reunion and strengthen the process of bringing the scattered socialist on the party platform. The party aims to woo the upper caste by orgasnising such function ahead of the crucial 2017 assembly polls.
The next such big gathering of the socialist is likely in lucknow on October 12, next, the birth anniversary of the socialist ideologue Ram Manohar lohia.
The previous Samajwadi Party government led by the senior Yadav, Mulayam Singh had launched similar offensive to attract the non Congress non BJP political activists to its platform. Then Mulayam Singh Yadav in June 2006 had organized a big convention of all the detainees of the emergency and they were honoured as Rsloktantra Senani’ and were also given a monthly pension of Rs 500 per month. The scheme was however scrapped by the succeeding Mayawati government in 2007.
During his regime the then chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2006 had also convened a special session of the state assembly where all former and sitting members were invited where they were honoured. Many veterans former MlAs of over 80 and 90 years of age had participated in the session.
"A tough battle is ahead of us in 2017, our rivals are clever, well healed and organized so we have to start the preparations right now. The parties is looking back to the veteran socialists and seek their guidance for the 2017 Assembly elections. With Akhilesh Yadav, being the youth face of the party, during the last three years our focus was on the youth and there was virtually no political space for the veterans’’, said Bhagwati Singh former Rajya Sabha MP of the SP.
The Samajwadi Party during the convention of the RsRsSamajwadi Intellectuals Sabha’’ on Tuesday had honoured 836 old socialist leaders from all parts of the country, who are no longer active in politics. Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav was to preside over the function but due to his engagements in Delhi he could not make it to the venue of the convention. Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav honoured the veterans with a shawl and citation and also sought the blessings’ of the veterans.
The party sources said as during the previous regime of Mulayam Singh Yadav (2003-07) the objective of such meetings is to woo the upper caste. As many as 40 percent of those honoured by the "Samajwadi Prabuddha Sabha” on Tuesday were from the Brahmin community. This is also being seen as an effort by the Samajwadis to win over Brahmin support. Incidentally, the convention on Tuesday was held on the eve of the birth anniversary of former SP MP Janeshwar Misra who was also the Brahmin face of the party since its inception in 1992.