The 2024 general elections proved the age old adage that politics is the art of the possible. This is best reflected in Uttar Pradesh, a state which sends a 80 MPs — the highest number among all states. This time, its people preferred to elect 37 MPS from the Samajwadi Party (SP) to the 18th Lok Sabha.
Founded three decades ago by socialist leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, the political fortunes of the party swung this year. From a mere five MPs in the previous House, the SP emerged as the third largest party after the BJP and the Congress.
The achievement demonstrated the ability of Akhilesh Yadav who in the first elections after the death of his father and the party founder, as a leader in his own right. The young Akhilesh Yadav delivered at a time the opposition in the country fought the elections amid challenging conditions. Compounding the situation for the SP chief was the serious differences with his uncle Shivpal Yadav.
Results in UP dealt a blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party's pride, hoping as it was to power on the strength of a ‘double-engine sarkar’ led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Aditya Nath. The setback in UP including defeats in five key seats around Ayodhya (Faizabad constituency) pocked gaping holes in the BJP’s estimates of riding on the crest of the ‘Ram Temple’ wave. In one stroke, people of the state knocked the BJP from its perch and reduced its decade-long untrammelled power at the Centre
How Did SP Get It Right
For this one has to go back and start from 2017 elections to the state assembly. That year, the SP decided to have the Congress as an alliance partner. Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi went around campaigning under a catchy slogan ‘UP ke Ladke” (UP Boys). However, the results left much to be desired. Despite having a combined voter share of 27%, the SP ended with 47 seats in the 403-strong assembly and the Congress won just Seven. There were lessons from this alliance that among other things what is required is the ability of the party workers from either side to work as a team.
In 2019 when the time for general elections came, the SP decided to tie-up with Bahujan Samaj Party, whose supremo Mayawati overcame deep personal animosity with SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. The slogan of ‘Babbua-Bua’ (Nephew and Aunt) went around but failed to convert the sentiments into seats as the BJP romped home with 62, BSP won 10 and SP just five seats. Yet, these experiments gave Akhilesh Yadav the pulse of the people. Plus, the years spent in opposition both at the Centre and the State allowed the SP Chief adequate time to prepare for the road ahead.
Last year during March, the SP leader after a meeting with Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata announced that the party will be with Trinamool in West Bengal. In addition, he announced to keep equal distance from the BJP and the Congress party. In a way, he backed the idea of the West Bengal Chief Minister to build an alternate political front distinct from the Congress.
However, as the year progressed the landscape changed as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took the initiative of forming a front that would make it possible for opposition parties to engage the BJP in a direct contest. SP too came on board to create the I.N.D.I. A platform and even after the exit of the Janata Dal (United) Chief Nitish Kumar, Akhilesh Yadav stayed on course. As the country entered into homestretch for the elections, in UP there was another desertion. The Rashtriya Lok Dal led by Jayant Chaudhary, who fought the 2019 polls with SP-BSP combine hitched his party onto the BJP chariot.
PDA Strategy
Now with greater elbow room as the dominant party in the state, the SP Chief asserted his position. The party came up with a strategy to distribute tickets to different castes instead of being anchored in its traditional Muslim-Yadav base. The idea was to field candidates from Pichda (Backward Community), Dalit and Alpsanhkyak (Minorities).
Having worked with the BSP in the previous Lok Sabha elections, the SP realised that Mayawati was unable to attract voters beyond the Jatav community as non-Jatavs were in search of an alternative. The SP gave tickets to five Yadavs, all of them were from his family, and four to Muslims. All five Yadavs, including Akhilesh, his wife Dimple, cousins Dharmendra, Akshaya and Aditya. Ally Congress, which got 17 seats, won six. The strategy meant that the party gained 25 seats in OBC reserved constituencies while the BJP lost 23 seats in these constituencies. The alliance had major gains across the four regions — Bundelkhand, Central, Eastern and Western UP — that tilted the electoral scale in its favour. Now, over to the 18th Lok Sabha, where the opposition side is much stronger, unlike the previous two regimes, consolidated by two large parties —the Congress and SP.
—The author, K V Prasad, is an author and political analyst. The views expressed are personal.
Read his previous articles here
Founded three decades ago by socialist leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, the political fortunes of the party swung this year. From a mere five MPs in the previous House, the SP emerged as the third largest party after the BJP and the Congress.
Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav addressing an election rally in Uttar Pradesh. (PTI)
The achievement demonstrated the ability of Akhilesh Yadav who in the first elections after the death of his father and the party founder, as a leader in his own right. The young Akhilesh Yadav delivered at a time the opposition in the country fought the elections amid challenging conditions. Compounding the situation for the SP chief was the serious differences with his uncle Shivpal Yadav.
Results in UP dealt a blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party's pride, hoping as it was to power on the strength of a ‘double-engine sarkar’ led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Aditya Nath. The setback in UP including defeats in five key seats around Ayodhya (Faizabad constituency) pocked gaping holes in the BJP’s estimates of riding on the crest of the ‘Ram Temple’ wave. In one stroke, people of the state knocked the BJP from its perch and reduced its decade-long untrammelled power at the Centre
How Did SP Get It Right
For this one has to go back and start from 2017 elections to the state assembly. That year, the SP decided to have the Congress as an alliance partner. Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi went around campaigning under a catchy slogan ‘UP ke Ladke” (UP Boys). However, the results left much to be desired. Despite having a combined voter share of 27%, the SP ended with 47 seats in the 403-strong assembly and the Congress won just Seven. There were lessons from this alliance that among other things what is required is the ability of the party workers from either side to work as a team.
In 2019 when the time for general elections came, the SP decided to tie-up with Bahujan Samaj Party, whose supremo Mayawati overcame deep personal animosity with SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. The slogan of ‘Babbua-Bua’ (Nephew and Aunt) went around but failed to convert the sentiments into seats as the BJP romped home with 62, BSP won 10 and SP just five seats. Yet, these experiments gave Akhilesh Yadav the pulse of the people. Plus, the years spent in opposition both at the Centre and the State allowed the SP Chief adequate time to prepare for the road ahead.
Initial Work and Recalculation
Last year during March, the SP leader after a meeting with Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata announced that the party will be with Trinamool in West Bengal. In addition, he announced to keep equal distance from the BJP and the Congress party. In a way, he backed the idea of the West Bengal Chief Minister to build an alternate political front distinct from the Congress.
Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav being stopped by police during a march from party office to UP Vidhan Bhavan, on the first day of Monsoon Session of UP Assembly, in Lucknow. (PTI)
However, as the year progressed the landscape changed as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took the initiative of forming a front that would make it possible for opposition parties to engage the BJP in a direct contest. SP too came on board to create the I.N.D.I. A platform and even after the exit of the Janata Dal (United) Chief Nitish Kumar, Akhilesh Yadav stayed on course. As the country entered into homestretch for the elections, in UP there was another desertion. The Rashtriya Lok Dal led by Jayant Chaudhary, who fought the 2019 polls with SP-BSP combine hitched his party onto the BJP chariot.
PDA Strategy
Now with greater elbow room as the dominant party in the state, the SP Chief asserted his position. The party came up with a strategy to distribute tickets to different castes instead of being anchored in its traditional Muslim-Yadav base. The idea was to field candidates from Pichda (Backward Community), Dalit and Alpsanhkyak (Minorities).
Having worked with the BSP in the previous Lok Sabha elections, the SP realised that Mayawati was unable to attract voters beyond the Jatav community as non-Jatavs were in search of an alternative. The SP gave tickets to five Yadavs, all of them were from his family, and four to Muslims. All five Yadavs, including Akhilesh, his wife Dimple, cousins Dharmendra, Akshaya and Aditya. Ally Congress, which got 17 seats, won six. The strategy meant that the party gained 25 seats in OBC reserved constituencies while the BJP lost 23 seats in these constituencies. The alliance had major gains across the four regions — Bundelkhand, Central, Eastern and Western UP — that tilted the electoral scale in its favour. Now, over to the 18th Lok Sabha, where the opposition side is much stronger, unlike the previous two regimes, consolidated by two large parties —the Congress and SP.
—The author, K V Prasad, is an author and political analyst. The views expressed are personal.
Read his previous articles here
Check out our in-depth Market Coverage, Business News & get real-time Stock Market Updates on CNBC-TV18. Also, Watch our channels CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz and CNBC Bajar Live on-the-go!
