Akhilesh’s Socialism Will Move Forward with Congress

Lucknow: Despite the Congress leadership and the Gandhi family showing their attitude towards the Samajwadi Party (SP) outside of Uttar Pradesh, the SP cannot ignore Congress in the state. This can be seen as a political compulsion for the SP or a demand of the times, leading them to maintain ties with Congress despite having no representation in Haryana. In the upcoming by-elections for 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh, the SP will field candidates in 8 seats while leaving 2 for Congress. Congress had demanded five seats, but this request was not justified.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has decided to leave the Ghaziabad and Khair assembly seats for Congress. In the by-elections for these 10 seats, the SP will nominate candidates for 8, while Congress will contest from the Khair and Ghaziabad seats. This is also seen as damage control by the SP. Just a day after Congress’s significant loss in Haryana, the SP announced candidates for six seats in Uttar Pradesh, leading to dissatisfaction among Congress leaders. Congress’s UP in-charge, Avinash Pandey, also denied any discussions regarding seat distribution. Sources suggest that an agreement on seat sharing was reached after a meeting between Rahul and Akhilesh during Omar Abdullah’s oath-taking ceremony in Jammu and Kashmir. Akhilesh has frequently stated that the INDIA alliance will continue in Uttar Pradesh.

Regarding candidates, the SP has nominated Submul Rana, the daughter of BSP national general secretary Munquad Ali, from the Meerut seat in Muzaffarnagar. After a meeting with local leaders and representatives, Akhilesh finalized Submul’s name. Submul is the daughter-in-law of former BSP MP Kadir Rana, who is currently with the SP. The political relationship between Munquad and Kadir changed in 2010 when Kadir was also in the BSP. Before the 2022 assembly elections, Kadir joined the SP. The Meerapur seat was won by the RLD in the SP alliance, but the RLD aligned with the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Following the election of Meerapur MLA Chandan Chauhan as an MP from Bijnor, a by-election is now taking place. So far, the SP has announced candidates for seven seats in the by-elections, with six tickets going to candidates from political families. To emphasize minority participation, Akhilesh has given three tickets to Muslims.

Meanwhile, all parties are working hard for the elections on the nine assembly seats, while the delay in the Milkipur by-election has led to a blame game between the SP and BJP. The BJP has accused the SP of postponing the election. When the Milkipur election was not announced, Akhilesh criticized the BJP, posting on X that those who postponed the battle have lost it. In response, former MLA Gorakhnath from Milkipur stated that it is the SP that is afraid, which is why he appealed to the court to withdraw his petition. During the court hearing on October 17, he observed that SP MP Avadhesh Prasad had sent a dozen lawyers, leading to a debate about whether a petition could be withdrawn in such a manner. This indicates that the Samajwadi Party is scared and does not want the elections to happen.

Overall, regarding the relationship between Congress and the SP, it does not appear that their paths will diverge anytime soon. For now, Akhilesh’s socialism will continue to move forward with Congress.