SP in poor shape, fields only 5 candidates in Haridwar

Sandeep Rawat

Tribune News Service

Haridwar, February 3

The Samajwadi Party (SP), which had good political penetration in Haridwar district till a decade ago, is fighting for its survival. The confidence in the party is so low that it has fielded candidates from only five of the 11 Assembly constituencies.

In the 2012 Assembly elections, no SP candidate could emerge even runner-up. The factionalism in the party could prolong the drought of wins of the past three Assembly elections.

Notably, when Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000 the SP had a legislator from Haridwar in the interim Assembly.

Ambrish Kumar was elected MLA on the SP ticket from the Haridwar segment in the 1996 Assembly elections. SP candidate Rajendra Badi was elected Haridwar MP in the 2004 general elections.

In the 2007 Assembly elections, Ambrish Kumar again contested on the SP ticket from Haridwar but lost to BJP candidate Madan Kaushik by a huge margin of 28,640 votes.

In the last Assembly elections, SP candidates forfeited their security deposits in four seats while in the Haridwar city seat its candidate could only garner only 150 votes.

However, SP state spokesperson Qazi Chand is confident of a better performance from all five party candidates in the district. “We have been preparing for the past few years for the elections. Though the untimely demise of former party state president Vinod Barthwal dealt a major blow to the party, we are focusing on our party cadres and voters who are unhappy with both Congress and BJP. People are see a hope in the Samajwadi Party, as we are banking on our ideology and development-oriented governance being given by the party-led government in Uttar Pradesh,” says Qazi Chand.

The SP district unit is also in touch senior party leaders to ensure Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, party supreme Mulayam Singh Yadav and Dimple Yadav, Kannauj MP whose parents hail from Pauri Garhwal district, address at least one election rally in the district.

Sonal Prince, party general secretary, says Aparna Yadav’s visit last year was a morale booster for party workers. She had addressed party workers at the city SP office and expressed her desire to come again during the elections.

“But as Aparna Yadav is contesting from the Lucknow Cantt segment against BJP’s Rita Bahuguna Joshi, she won’t be able to campaign in Uttarakhand. But still we hope Dimple Yadav will be willing to campaign in the state. As Haridwar district borders Uttar Pradesh, the SP wave in the neighbouring state will also impact elections in certain pockets in the district too,” says Prince.