U.P. bypolls: Will SP’s regional satrap card work against BJP’s might?

Taking a leaf out of his father the late Mulayam Singh Yadav’s book, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is now relying on regional satraps in the upcoming bypolls to 10 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.
It remains to be seen whether it will work against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s might or not. Earlier in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the SP president had taken recourse to “Pichde, Dalit and Alpasankhyak (PDA) formula that paid rich dividends to the party.
The coining of PDA was on the lines of the caste arithmetic formula adopted by the late Mulayam Singh Yadav that powered him to office of state’s CM thrice. In the upcoming bypolls, Akhilesh Yadav has announced six names so far and most of them are either family members of the senior SP leaders or former MPs and MLAs who enjoy a clout in their respective regions.
Many think it’s not just the winnability but also the PDA factor that the SP chief is taking ahead and broadening the base of his party. Before 2017, Akhilesh had openly opposed including of the Ansari clan in the SP leading to a rift between him and his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav.
Later, he understood the importance of regional satraps and welcomed Afzal Ansari into the party. Political commentator and veteran journalist Ratan Mani Lal feels that Akhilesh Yadav has evolved over the years and is following the path of his father who was never shy of taking sides.
“I feel that Akhilesh Yadav is not the same as he was in 2014. Now, he has become more of a seasoned politician. It is a known fact that for many years Akhilesh Yadav didn’t give tickets to any of his family members as he didn’t want to get labelled as a dynast politician,” he said.
“Then, he publicly opposed the entry of Mukhtar Ansari’s family. He had also said his party didn’t need people like DP Yadav. However, he has probably learnt his lesson now that it is all about winnability,” Lal added.
“It is obvious that the SP chief is now following the path taken by his father the late Mulayam Singh Yadav who openly favoured his community and family members,” he said. “I think the BJP can afford to experiment and also their dependence on one factor is not as much as that of the SP,” the veteran journalist said.
Prashant Trivedi, associate professor at Giri Institute of Development Studies, said, “The announcement of bypolls candidates makes it clear that Akhilesh is moving ahead with his PDA formula and looking to expand the party’s base beyond its traditional Muslim-Yadav vote bank.”
“In Mulayam Singh Yadav’s era, the SP had people of all castes and I think Akhilesh is expanding the vision of his father,” Trivedi added.
The SP has fielded young Dr Jyoti Bind as its candidate from Majhawan assembly seat in Mirzapur for the bypolls. Although Dr Jyoti is contesting elections for the first time, her family has deep political roots in the region.
Her father Ramesh Bind has been an MLA from Majhawan thrice on the BSP ticket. In 2019, Ramesh Bind won the Lok Sabha election from Bhadohi on a BJP ticket.
In 2024 LS polls, he became the INDIA bloc candidate but lost to Apna Dal (S) chief Anupriya Patel by a slender margin.
From Prayagraj’s Phulpur seat, the SP has made Mujtaba Siddiqui its candidate. Siddiqui left the BSP and joined the SP before the 2022 UP assembly elections. Akhilesh Yadav’s nephew Tej Pratap Singh Yadav has been fielded from Karhal assembly seat in Mainpuri.
From Kanpur’s Sishamau seat, Naseem Solanki has been named the SP candidate. She is the daughter-in-law of former MLA Haji Mushtaq Solanki and wife of former MLA Irfan Solanki.
The SP has made Ajit Prasad, the son of SP’s Faizabad MP Awadhesh Prasad, the party’s candidate from Ayodhya’s Milkipur (reserved) seat. From Ambedkar Nagar’s Katehri seat, the party has fielded Shobhawati Verma, the wife of SP MP Lalji Verma.