LUCKNOW: Upset with being allotted just two assembly seats in poll-bound Maharashtra, the Samajwadi Party (SP) has announced it will field seven candidates, highlighting a rift within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and underscoring what SP leaders describe as a lack of support for smaller INDIA bloc allies.
The SP's decision to contest independently comes after the MVA allotted just two seats to the party, a move that SP leaders say exposes a lack of unity and consultation within the opposition alliance.
The SP has declared candidates for Bhiwandi East, Bhiwandi West, Tuljapur, Paranda, Aurangabad East, Malegaon Central, and Dhule City assembly seats.
According to sources within the SP, the party had demanded a dozen seats from the MVA but decided to proceed with its own slate of candidates after no agreement was reached.
Abu Azmi, SP Maharashtra state president, expressed dissatisfaction, saying, "They have left only two seats for us. They did not even talk to us that only two seats were allotted to us. We only got to know about it through the media. They did not even invite us for the meeting."
In contrast, the MVA has already fielded candidates for six of the constituencies contested by the SP, except Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar, where Abu Azmi himself is a candidate, and Bhiwandi West.
The SP’s announcement follows earlier tensions in Uttar Pradesh, where a seat-sharing arrangement with Congress for nine by-poll-bound seats failed, resulting in Congress withdrawing from the UP bypoll race and leaving the field to the SP.
Political experts believe SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's move to contest independently in Maharashtra signals his broader strategy to expand the party's influence beyond Uttar Pradesh and assert independence when alliances do not align with the SP's goals. The party has indicated it is willing to collaborate with the MVA in other constituencies to defeat the BJP.
Azmi criticised the Congress for neglecting the lessons of its defeat in Haryana. "The Congress had not taken appropriate lessons from its Haryana defeat," he remarked while addressing the media on Wednesday. The SP had aimed for an alliance in Haryana but decided to support Congress across all seats when no partnership materialised.
SP sources further claim that the MVA should have adopted a united front but did not involve SP leaders in key discussions. The SP will release its manifesto for Maharashtra on 7th November, with party workers committed to backing the MVA in constituencies where the SP is not fielding candidates.
This clash highlights the growing divisions within the INDIA bloc as parties grapple with strategies and power-sharing arrangements in key states.