The Samajwadi Party will hold its two-day national executive in Haridwar,Uttarakhand,on September 17-18. Haridwar is close to western UPs Lok Sabha seats like Saharanpur,Muzaffarnagar,Meerut,Moradabad and Bareilly,where the party wants to keep its Muslim support intact. It has decided to field its Uttarakhands Muslim face Azamal Nawab from Haridwar. Akhilesh govt says no to VHPs Ayodhya parikrama The SP is also looking for support of sadhus who prefer a pro-OBC leadership. The party reportedly does not want VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) to damage its OBC votebank by getting sadhus united. VHP's Ayodhya yatra paralyses Parliament,SP and BJP trade charges Yoga guru Baba Ramdev,who is from the OBC,is in favour of the BJP,and Gujarat CM Narendra Modi as PM candidate. Haridwar has a large number of maths and akharas where people seek blessings from saints. Most sadhus who head maths and akharas are associated with UP. In politics,sadhus are considered a tool to influence voters. a source in SP said. Uttarakhand SP president Satyanarayan Sachan said the party would discuss strategies for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections at the Haridwar session. We are in touch with several Sadhus in Haridwar city. Those who love socialist ideologies would be invited to meet Netaji (SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav) at the venue, Sachan said. SP was in the past against division of UP to create Uttarakhand. SP had won Haridwar Lok Sabha seat in 2004. There is a strong sentiment among local people to see Haridwar as part of UP. Most are sadhus allegedly unhappy with BJPs pro-hill stand.
