LUCKNOW: With the UP Assembly election is all set for the second phase on February 14, the Samajwadi Party (SP), which has already announced over 300 candidates across the state, is grappling with sulking cadre as the candidates are returning the tickets.
The simmering discontent among the party workers is attributed to frequent change in constituencies of the candidates in absence of a proper system for ticket distribution. At a number of places, candidates were being replaced within 24 hours after being declared from a particular constituency.
“Indecision and frequent changes in the names are leading to discontent not only among the party leaders but also among the ground-level workers who put in their hard work to ensure the victory of party candidates,” says a senior SP leader seeking anonymity.
It is normal to have 50-60 contenders for a seat in the times of election but the trouble amplifies when the chosen candidate returns the ticket. In the given scenario, while the party leadership has to repeat the process of selection of the most winnable candidate, those playing mediator between the candidate and party leadership also tend to lose face.
Recently, the party faced a piquant situation in Malihabad, the reserved seat on the outskirts of Lucknow. Sushila Saroj, a senior SP leader was declared candidate but she returned the ticket saying that she had not pitched for the Malihabad seat. Consequently, the party left red-faced, had to replace Mohanlalganj candidate with Saroj.
Similarly, candidate Mohammad Ramzaan declared by the party for the Matera seat in Bahraich returned the ticket and left the party to join Congress to enter the fray from adjoining Sharavasti. Dr Vinod Kumar Bind, SP candidate from Gyanpur in Bhadohi district refused to contest the polls as he was expecting a ticket from Manjhwa of Mirzapur.
In Prayagraj west, the party made Amaranth Maurya its candidate against BJP’s high-profile cabinet minister Siddharth Nath Singh. After a day, Maurya was replaced by Allahabad University's former president Richa Singh. Subsequently, the party released a letter to the Election commission saying Maurya was its official candidate but by then the district poll officer had accepted Richa’s candidature on the basis of Form A and B given to her by the party.
A similar situation cropped up in SP camp in Maharajganj district’s Pharenda seat where Parashuram Nishad was replaced by Shankhlal Manjhi after getting a party ticket. “On a number of seats, the party declared the candidate but gave Form A to someone else,” says an SP leader. “In Deoria district, the candidature of Pradeep Yadav was declared from Rudrapur but Form B was handed over to Rambhual Nishad,” he claimed.
At the same time, the rumblings between SP and its allies are also coming to the fore. Recently, the chinks in alliance had appeared when Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), led by Krishna Patel, had returned all the seats left for it by the SP. The party claimed that its vice-president Pallavi Patel was declared a candidate by the SP on its symbol against BJP senior leader and deputy CM Keshav Maurya in Sirathu. Apna Dal (K) complained that SP took the decision to field Pallavi without taking her party into confidence. However, later Akhilesh pitched in and convinced Pallavi to be a candidate on the same seat.
Similar issues of seat-sharing had emerged between the SP and OP Rajbhar-led SBSP. Even there were issues purportedly regarding the seat on which Rajbhar had to contest. Moreover, Shivpal Yadav also has some grudges over seat-sharing with nephew Akhilesh who has left just Jaswantnagar seat for the uncle who had been asking for some more seats as he wanted his son Aditya also to contest. Shivpal has been given the cycle symbol and he would contest as the SP candidate from Jaswantnagar seat in Etawah. Shivpal has won this seat four times.