In a bid to shed its Muslim-Yadav image, the Samajwadi Party has cut down on the number of candidates from these communities in its distribution of tickets for the ongoing Lok Sabha election. So far, out of 57 declared candidates, there are only four Muslims and four Yadavs. Overall, the party is contesting 62 seats in U.P.
Apart from 17 reserved seats, the SP has fielded two Scheduled Caste candidates from the general seats in Meerut and Ayodhya, where the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is heavily relying on the appeal of Lord Ram. These constituencies will vote in the second and third phases.
To make up for the loss of Pallavi Patel from erstwhile all Apna Dal (Kamerwadi), the SP has fielded nine Kurmi candidates out of 28 from other backward classes (OBCs). To nullify the damage caused by the resignation of Swami Prasad Maurya and to take advantage of the BJP’s internal tussle over the position of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, the SP has given six tickets to candidates from the Shakya, Maurya, Saini, and Kushwaha communities. The party has also fielded five candidates from the Nishad and Bind communities, which fall under the most backward group.
