INDIA VOTES 2024: As SP modifies seven seats, confusion abounds

The Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh has made a number of last-minute changes to their candidates, confusing both party members and possible contenders.

In western Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav’s party has swapped out candidates for seven seats; some constituencies have seen three rounds of changes as a consequence. BJP officials have criticized it harshly, claiming that it shows how chaotic and indecisive the SP is.

The most recent example is Sunita Verma, who succeeded Atul Pradhan, who had previously succeeded Bhanu Pratap Singh, as the third contender for the Meerut Lok Sabha constituency. Former Meerut mayor Sunita was chosen as the new candidate after Akhilesh allegedly had conversations with Pradhan and her husband, former MLA Yogesh Verma.

Before joining the SP, Sunita and her husband Yogesh were both members of the BSP but were dismissed in 2019 for “anti-party activities.”

Many people are disappointed by the frequent reorganizations, despite the leadership attributing these changes to requests and suggestions from regional leaders and voter opinion. Rajendra Chaudhary, the party spokesman, has refuted any internal divisions within the organization and said that Akhilesh thoroughly weighed each factor before selecting the candidates.

The SP had first declared Mahendra Nagar their candidate in Gautam Budh Nagar. Rahul Awana then took his seat, but it eventually went back to Mahendra Nagar. The party first proposed ST Hasan, the current MP in Moradabad, but then replaced him with Ruchi Veera. Shortly before the deadline, Manoj Chaudhary lost the Baghpat race to Amarpal Sharma. In Bijnor, where Deepak Saini took Yashveer Singh’s post, the pattern persisted.

First to declare himself a candidate in Misrikh was Rampal Rajvanshi, then his son Manoj Kumar Rajvanshi, and finally his daughter-in-law Sangita Rajvanshi. Senior politician Shivpal Yadav began pushing for his son to be selected as the party’s candidate for the Badaun seat after it was announced, which added yet another level of difficulty to the selection process.

Asim Raja and Maulana Moibullah Nadvi had both submitted candidates for Rampur, but the party ultimately chose to back Nadvi.

Party officials said they are certain that a variety of criteria, including winnability, were taken into consideration when deciding which candidates to replace. Although some may find the SP’s decision-making process unpredictable, party officials insist that these modifications are required to provide the greatest possible odds of winning in the elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made fun of the Samajwadi Party and chastised Akhilesh for its frequent candidate changes, claiming that “they seem to occur every hour” while speaking at a rally in Saharanpur today. With the first and second phases of voting for the Lok Sabha elections set for April 19 and 26, respectively, western Uttar Pradesh is getting ready, and the SP’s dynamic candidate selection process is making both watchers and supporters nervous.

Constituency of Meerut

The most recent example concerns Sunita Verma, who succeeded Atul Pradhan, who had previously succeeded Bhanu Pratap Singh, as the third contender for the Meerut seat. Following reports that Akhilesh met with Pradhan and Sunita’s husband, former MLA Yogesh Verma, Sunita was chosen the new candidate.