Local bodies’ elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held next month, setting the stage for yet another bout between major political parties in the state.
For the ruling Samajwadi Party, the local bodies’ election are a prestige issue and SP leaders are working overtime to ensure the party’s success in urban area and continue its winning streak.
The Samajwadi Party, until the recent Assembly elections, had never been able to register its presence in urban local bodies but with the sweeping majority in the Assembly polls, the SP hopes to change the trend.
“This time, the Samajwadi Party will get an overwhelming majority in the local bodies and we will have our mayors in majority of the 13 nagar nigams. People had reposed faith in us in the Assembly polls and our performance in the past two months will script the party’s success in the local bodies as well,” said senior SP minister Shivpal Singh Yadav.
The Bahujan Samaj Party, on the other hand, has decided to opt out of the local bodies’ elections. According to state BSP president Swami Prasad Maurya, “The SP regime has brought in ‘goonda raj’ and we cannot risk the lives of our party workers by participating in the local bodies’ elections where money and muscle power will be used shamelessly. It is more important for us to protect our people than win elections.”
With the BSP opting out of the election arena, the field is more or less clear for the Samajwadi Party since the other two players — the Congress and the BJP — seem ill-prepared to face this fresh round of polls after their debacle in the Assembly polls.