As part of its strategy to woo the minorities, the Samajwadi Party is considering fielding a Muslim candidate from party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s family bastion Sabhal, which is represented in the Lok Sabha by his brother and SP leader in the Lok Sabha Ram Gopal Yadav. Sources in the SP confirmed that Ram Gopal has already conveyed to the party leaders that he will not contest the next Lok Sabha polls. Although, according to sources, Ram Gopal has cited personal reasons for not contesting the polls, the SP is not keen to field another candidate from the Yadav family. Instead, SP leaders are keenly considering fielding a Muslim candidate from this minority-dominated constituency. In fact, three minority candidates have already staked their claim on Ram Gopal’s seat, confirmed party sources.Ram Gopal is most likely to be brought to the Rajya Sabha, where he has been a member in the past. However, sources said that a decision regarding this was still to be approved by the SP’s parliamentary board.As part of this broader effort, the party is also considering fielding its Rajya Sabha MP Shahid Siddiqui, who will complete his RS tenure at the end of this year, in the next Lok Sabha elections from a suitable seat in western UP. Given that Mulayam Singh is planning to contest from his old Mainpuri seat in the coming elections, shifting incumbent Dharmendra Yadav to Budaun, represented by senior leader Saleem Sherwani, the SP might field Sherwani from Phulpur in eastern UP.SP’s eagerness to appease minorities in the eastern and western UP has arisen out of the fact that the party lost a substantial minority support base in the last Assembly elections due to fear among the voters that the party may have a tacit understanding with the BJP. This time, the party is taking this issue with more urgency given the fact that the ruling BSP in the state has more minority MLAs in the Assembly than the SP.
