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1.56 lakh BLAs, survey of ticket aspirants’ visibility on ground— SP gears up for UP Assembly polls
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has asked party MPs to keep a close watch on the ongoing SIR in the state
Akhilesh Yadav
From fielding nearly 1.56 lakh booth level agents (BLAs) on the ground, keeping a watch on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, to a survey to assess the strengths of the party and ticket aspirants — the Samajwadi Party (SP) has started pushing its preparations to take on the ruling BJP in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections scheduled early next year.
According to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), the BJP has deployed the highest number of 1.60 lakh BLAs in the state, followed by SP’s 1.56 lakh and BSP’s 1.53 lakh BLAs.
The Congress has deployed BLAs at 95,328 booths.
“This is unlike the past elections when the party used to start activities on the ground only when the elections drew closer and polling agents were appointed at booths at that time only. But in the wake of the SIR, the SP has 1.56 lakh dedicated workers in the field for the past three months. They are meeting voters door-to-door and helping them in filling enumeration forms. The MPs and MLAs are on the ground as well. This is sending a message to people that only the SP is fighting the BJP strongly,” said an SP leader.
The party leader said they have already started a survey to assess the strength of the party and the ticket aspirants, including those who contested in the past elections, according to their visibility on the ground.
Sources said the party was planning to declare its candidate early in some of the 108 Assembly constituencies that it lost in the last three elections to give them adequate time to get to know their voters. Also, observers were appointed for each of these constituencies, and they later submitted reports to the party president, it is learnt.
According to party sources, these seats are spread across the state and important ones include Allahabad West and Lucknow Cantonment in central UP; Babina and Charkhari in Bundelkhand; Bansi and Deoria in east UP; Gangoh and Noida in west UP; and Agra Cantonment and Etmadpur in the Braj region.
“It was found during the survey that local leaders were not working with enthusiasm and dedication in several of these seats. Social equations were not favourable in many seats. Senior leaders in some districts like Rampur and Jhansi did not allow the party to develop a second-line of leadership, causing a dent to the organisation. The party does not have its own office in some districts. Now the party is drawing a strategy for these seats. The appointment of BLAs and deployment of senior leaders during the SIR has galvanised the local party units,” said another party leader.
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In the 2022 Assembly polls, the SP had an alliance with some regional parties like the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), which claim to have a sizable influence over OBC voters .
Of the state’s 403 seats, the SP won 111 seats with 32% vote share, while the RLD got eight and the SBSP six. The other parties in the alliance did not win any seat. The BJP bagged 255 seats with 41.29% votes.
The RLD, which has a base among Jats in western UP, crossed over to the BJP-led NDA ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The SBSP joined the NDA in 2023.
For the 2027 Assembly polls, the SP is willing to continue its alliance with the Congress but a formal discussion on the tie-up is yet to take place.
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