In Budaun, where SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s uncle Shivpal Yadav replaced nephew Dharmendra Yadav, the party may change its candidate again after Shivpal publicly stated that a section of SP workers in Budaun wished to make his son Aditya Yadav the candidate.
SP chief spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary defended the changes in candidature, saying the SP gave “importance to political transparency” while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is “dominated by a monopolistic culture”.
“The SP and the BJP have a foundational difference… Changing candidates in some Lok Sabha seats reflects that there is democracy within the SP, which gives respect to the voice of the workers,” he said.
“Those interested in political history will remember that Jaiprakash Narayan ji was of the clear view that the public should choose its candidate. Former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh ji was such a big proponent of transparency in politics that he would even make declarations against his candidates from an open platform,” he added.
According to Samajwadi Party sources, factors such as winnability, experience, and acceptability led to the party replacing its candidates on the Baghpat, Bijnor, and Gautam Budhha Nagar seats, while internal politics led to such a decision in Moradabad, besides resentment within the local unit over ticket distribution.
Apart from Modi, former SP ally and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary targeted the Opposition for giving tickets “to fortunate ones for a few hours” in a post on X, while Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya too took potshots at the SP for replacing its candidates on more than half-dozen seats.
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Musical chairs in Meerut
On the Meerut seat, the SP has changed its candidate twice. After the SP fielded Supreme Court advocate and Dalit face Bhanu Pratap Singh, known for his campaign against electronic voting machines (EVMs), from the seat, there was infighting in the local unit.
Contenders like Sardhana MLA Atul Pradhan, Kithore MLA Shahid Manzoor, former MLA Yogesh Verma, and Meerut MLA Rafiq Ansari had sought a ticket from Meerut, but Akhilesh sprung a surprise on 15 March by giving the ticket to Pratap, who is from Bulandshahr.
The move resulted in local contenders voicing their anger as their supporters launched a social media campaign against Pratap.
Atul Pradhan followed Akhilesh to Delhi, where the INDIA bloc held a joint rally at the Ramlila Maidan last week, and spoke to the party chief about his credentials for the ticket.
His candidature was confirmed two days later, and he filed nomination papers Wednesday.
However, Yogesh Verma’s wife, Sunita Verma, and Rafiq Ansari also got the nomination forms, keeping speculations alive.
The SP chief Thursday called Atul Pradhan and Yogesh Verma to the party office in Lucknow for a face-to-face meeting. Afterwards, the party declared former mayor Sunita Verma as its Meerut candidate. The move led to rumours that Pradhan would quit and join the BJP.
But, Pradhan laid all speculation to rest in a presser Friday when he said he would not leave the SP and would abide by Akhilesh’s decision.
“Meerut has a large number of Muslims, followed by Dalits, Brahmins, Vaishyas and Gujjars. The party considered giving the ticket to an SC (Scheduled Caste) candidate. Although Pratap is an SC, he is an outsider with no hold in Meerut. On the other hand, Sunita Verma has served as mayor of Meerut and has wider acceptability,” a senior SP leader told ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
Verma has been pitted against BJP’s Arun Govil, the actor who played the the Hindu deity Ram in Ramanand Sagar’s popular 1980s TV adaptation of the Ramayana.
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Baghpat, Gautam Buddha Nagar & Bijnor
Experience and acceptability led the SP to change its candidates on the Baghpat and Gautam Buddha Nagar seats.
While Jat face Manoj Chaudhary was given a ticket from the Baghpat seat, the SP replaced him with former MLA Amarpal Sharma Thursday. The decision, SP leaders said, was made after taking into account caste considerations and acceptability.
“Chaudhary lost the 2012 assembly polls from Chhaprauli and is a weak face compared to Amarpal, a former MLA. Even the Jats were not enthusiastic about his (Chaudhary’s) candidature. Fielding Sharma can be interesting as Baghpat has a sizeable Brahmin population,” an SP leader from Baghpat told ThePrint.
“The change was also because we did not want to give an easy ride to RLD, which has deserted us after profiting from the SP-RLD alliance,” the leader added.
Baghpat, according to the local RLD unit, has a total of 4 lakh Jats, 3.75 lakh Muslims, 1.5 lakh Dalits, 40,000 Yadavs, 1.25 lakh Gujjars, 60,000 Rajputs and 1.5 lakh Brahmins.
In the Bijnor constituency, rumblings within the local unit led to a change in candidature. The SP had first fielded Yashvir Singh Dhobi, who, himself, was surprised to get the ticket.
While Dhobi was seeking a ticket from Nagina, the party fielded him from Bijnor on 16 March. The move left a section of the local unit disgruntled since they had been demanding the ticket for Deepak Saini, son of Noorpur SP MLA Ramavtar Saini.
“Yashvir Singh Dhobi switched over to the BJP ahead of the 2019 general elections and contested on a BJP ticket from Nagina only to lose the election. He returned to the SP later. His loyalty was also questioned,” said an SP leader who did not wish to be named.
On March 24, the party leadership finally fielded Deepak Saini from the seat after the Bijnor unit prevailed over the party’s top leadership by explaining why Saini would be a better candidate against RLD’s Chandan Chauhan.
And in Gautam Buddha Nagar, the SP on 16 March announced paediatrician Dr Mahendra Nagar as its candidate against BJP’s Dr Mahesh Sharma, the owner of Kailash Group of Hospitals, only to then declare Rahul Awana as its candidate.
The change came after a section of local SP leaders voiced their resentment over fielding Nagar, an old Congress face who switched to the SP in 2022. However, on 28 March, the SP reversed its decision and finally settled on Nagar, who has now filed his nomination papers.
Speaking to ThePrint, Nagar said that Awana has since been supporting his candidature and remains busy campaigning for him. Asked about the change, an SP leader from Gautam Buddha Nagar said that, in this case, it was experience that prevailed over youth.
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Rajvanshis in Misrikh & ‘outsider’ in Moradabad
In the Misrikh Lok Sabha constituency, reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates, the SP, in February, fielded former minister Rampal Rajvanshi. But, he opted out citing health reasons, after which the party fielded his son Manoj Rajvanshi in his place.
However, Manoj Rajvanshi too opted out, and his wife, Sangita Rajvanshi, a sitting district panchayat member, became the SP’s Misrikh candidate.
The Rajvanshi family has, meanwhile, denied rumours that the BJP candidate from Misrikh, Ashok Rawat, who is related to them, influenced their decision to opt out of the contest. “There is nothing of this sort. All of this is false,” Rampal Rajvanshi told ThePrint Friday.
ThePrint reported earlier about a rift within the SP’s Muslim leadership in the Moradabad Lok Sabha seat, where it replaced sitting MP S.T. Hasan with Ruchi Vira. Hasan has repeatedly hinted at the involvement of an “outsider” — jailed SP veteran Azam Khan.
On 3 April, a letter sent by Akhilesh Yadav (in possession of ThePrint) to the Moradabad returning officer became public. In it, the SP chief declared Hasan as the Moradabad candidate, with Hasan later saying that some leaders from Lucknow conspired with “the outsider” to ensure that the letter did not reach him. “Only Akhilesh ji can tell under whose pressure my candidature was changed when he wanted me to be the candidate,” he said.
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Uncle-nephew equation in Budaun
In Budaun, the party first fielded Akhilesh’s cousin, Dharmendra Yadav. But on 20 February, their uncle Shivpal Yadav replaced Dharmendra, who was then moved to Azamgarh.
At a panchayat meeting last Sunday, the SP’s Budaun unit, including Shivpal, passed a proposal to make his son Aditya Yadav the candidate. Speaking to the media, Shivpal said they would send the proposal to the party leadership and hopefully get its nod.
Dharmendra Yadav has said he would campaign harder for Aditya.
Party insiders said Shivpal demanded an assembly ticket for Aditya in the 2022 assembly polls, but the party leadership prevailed on him to fight instead.
Political analysts said Shivpal has been wanting to make a place for his his son in the state’s politics, but his internal rift with nephew Akhilesh has prevented it so far. They said with alliance partners deserting and local units rumbling, Akhilesh is under a lot of pressure now, and Shivpal has seized the moment to push the demand to field Aditya.
Shashikant Pandey, head of the political science department of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, told ThePrint that the demand to field Aditya raised earlier, as well, has been openly stated from a public platform this time.
“Shivpal has realised that Akhilesh established a hold over the party, and he has little chances elsewhere. When he was declared the candidate, there was speculation that he did not want to contest. But that the demand (of Aditya’s candidature) has now been raised publicly shows all is not well within the party, and the rift between the two leaders persists,” he noted.
Pandey also said the way the SP has been changing candidates shows a lack of preparedness on the end of the principal opposition party in the state, where the BJP indulges in several rounds of surveys. “When the candidature of leaders like Atul Pradhan is withdrawn, their supporters get disheartened. This shows that inputs of the local unit of the party were not taken or not heeded before ticket distribution,” he said.
He added that when Mulayam Singh Yadav was party president, he had established a grip over party workers from all castes and communities and was known for his direct communication with them. “While some unease within the party leadership is natural at the time of distributing tickets, changing candidates repeatedly reflects lack of feedback mechanism and political immaturity on the leadership’s part,” he said.
Mirza Asmer Beg, professor of political science at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), meanwhile, told ThePrint that changing candidates frequently on so many seats could lead to “political hara-kiri”.
So many changes after ticket distribution and nomination filing “sends a bad message to the supporters of a particular candidate,” he explained.
“S.T. Hasan and Atul Pradhan were replaced after they filed nominations. Naturally, their supporters would get angry. This does not augur well for the party and especially affects voters who are indecisive and go wherever the wind is blowing,” he said.
“This is why slogans like ‘400 paar‘ are given by the BJP ahead of elections — to create a momentum in favour of the party.”
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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