SP focus on youth for UP Council polls

In a fresh attempt to win over youth, the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh has given about 70 per cent tickets to youth in the upcoming elections to the 36 UP Legislative Council seats that will be elected through the local bodies.

The party wants greater youth representation in the Upper House, of which UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is also a member. The SP, till now, had a minority status in the Vidhan Parishad where the BSP dominated the scene. With 36 seats falling vacant, the SP is gearing up for a majority in the upper house too. “We have given tickets mainly to the youth because they can mobilise votes for themselves and can represent the party in a more aggressive manner in the Upper House,” said a party functionary.

The SP, in its list of 31 out of 36 announced Tuesday, has given tickets to its youth leaders Anand Bhadauria (Sitapur), Sunil Yadav Sajan (Lucknow-Unnao) and Ajay Yadav (Pilibhit). Youth leaders who had worked with Mr Yadav during the 2012 election campaign have been given preference in these elections. “We interviewed all the applicants and asked them how many votes they had and how they planned to win the seat. We also took the opinion of local ministers, legislators and district office-bearers of the party before shortlisting the names,” the functionary said. Among the ministers who have succeeded in getting tickets for their kin are Raj Kishore Singh, whose brother Brij Kishore Singh is the SP candidate from Basti, and Mehboob Ali, whose son Pervez has been nominated from Moradabad. UP minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh has also managed to get his cousin Akshay Pratap Singh nominated from Pratapgarh. A senior minister who is still lobbying for a ticket for his son said, “I am not asking for a ticket because he is my son. I am seeking ticket because he has worked in the panchayat elections for the party and ensured the victory of the party candidate at every level. I feel he deserves a ticket this time.”

The SP has played the caste card to the hilt by giving tickets to 17 Yadav candidates out of 31. Muslims have got five tickets while Thakurs have been given four tickets and a Brahmin has got one ticket.