Mulayam Singh Yadav rallies to gauge mood

As the countdown for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections has almost begun, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav has decided to address rallies in every division to assess the mood of the people.

According to party sources, the rallies are scheduled to start at end of March from Azamgarh, which is Mr Yadav’s parliamentary constituency.

The SP chief has been repeatedly asking ministers and party legislators to remain connected with the people and to spend more time in their constituencies than in Lucknow but most of them have been ignoring his advice.

Besides, reports of infighting in the party units have also been coming in, leading to internal sabotage during the panchayat elections.

The party supremo now wants to gauge the ground realities through these rallies.

“During his rallies, Mr Yadav will also meet people and party leaders in each division and seek a report of the situation. He will make an assessment of the popularity of the local Samajwadi Party leader and also of the party MLAs and ministers,” said a senior party functionary.

After this feedback, the party will finalise whuch of the sitting MLAs will get tickets.

He will also give directions to the Akhilesh government to plug the loopholes, if any, in the various divisions.

The party functionary said there is a strong likelihood of several ministers and sitting legislators losing their tickets for the 2017 Assembly polls. Mr Yadav will take the decision on the basis of feedback he gets from the common people in each division.

“Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has been working extremely hard to ensure development of the state but our own leaders have not been promoting and propagating his scheme among the people. The 2017 Assembly elections are crucial for us and we cannot afford to keep those on board who have no interest in party welfare”, the leader said.

The Samajwadi leadership, sources said, is apparently disturbed over the moves being made by smaller parties to split the anti-BJP vote. Besides the BSP and the Congress, the five party proposed alliance led by JD(U) and also the AIMIM are preparing to eat into the SP vote bank.

This, along with the anti-incumbency factor and the lackadaisical attitude of ministers and legislators, could upset the Samajwadi apple cart and Mr Yadav is determined to counter these factors.