Samajwadi Party eyes non-Yadav OBCs, Dalits in overhaul of Uttar Pradesh poll strategy
The Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh is recalibrating its electoral strategy by planning to field non-Yadav OBC and Dalit candidates in constituencies where it previously lost with Yadav or Muslim candidates. The party aims to overcome anti-Yadav polarization and broaden its voter base ahead of the upcoming assembly polls.
Why it matters
This shift reflects the complex caste-based electoral arithmetic that defines Uttar Pradesh politics and the party's attempt to regain power.
With the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls hardly six months away, according to schedule, the Samajwadi Party (SP), the main Opposition in the State, is recalibrating its seat-wise strategy with indications of filing candidates from other social groups like non-Yadav Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Dalits on seats previously fought and lost by candidates from its core voter base: Yadavs and Muslims.
The seat-wise marking is at the ideation level, with strategists noting that there are at least 15 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh where candidates from the Yadav community contested on the Samajwadi Party ticket in the last polls and lost.
These seats have a high Yadav electorate numbering between 40,000 and 60,000, but the party failed to win due to anti-Yadav polarisation.
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