After losing 3 MLCs, Samajwadi Party ready for agitation in UP

Lucknow: After a four month hiatus, the Samajwadi Party is finally launching a state-wide campaign, called “Desh bachao, desh banao”, with a rally that will be addressed by party president Akhilesh Yadav in Ayodhya on August 9.

The SP, according to sources, is gearing up for a battle against the BJP governments at the center and in the state with Mr Akhilesh Yadav leading from the front. After its crushing defeat in the Assembly elections earlier this year, this will be the first major programme of the Samajwadi Party in the state.

Mr Akhilesh Yadav, so far, has been in a passive mode and his involvement in opposition politics has been restricted to an occasional statement.

The party, which continues to battle dissent within the family and the cadres, has steered clear of attacking the Yogi Adityanath government. The party’s opposition to the BJP government got further blunted when Samajwadi patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and his younger brother Shivpal openly announced their support to the NDA candidate in the recent presidential elections.

However, it was the resignation of three SP MLCs, who later joined the BJP, which finally jolted the SP leadership out of complacency.

The SP, sources said, now wants to position itself as a rallying point for Opposition parties.