Akhilesh's new home in Azamgarh to serve as SP's Purvanchal HQ
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Lucknow: On the face of it,
Samajwadi Party
's new office in
Azamgarh
that was inaugurated by
Akhilesh Yadav
amid much fanfare on Thursday, is described as one in the series of offices that the party is setting up across the state and beyond.
But going by the plans that the party leadership has, the premises are sure to assume the dimensions of SP's Purvanchal headquarters by the time the 2027 assembly elections approaches.
To begin with, the idea to have a party office-cum-residence for SP chief in Azamgarh, has been in the offing for quite some time now.
The party chief had mooted the idea well before the 2022 state polls. No wonder, the first chunk of 38 biswa and 16 kadi land (approx 2.46 acre) was purchased from 11 farmers on Jan 22, 2021.
The land was purchased in the name of the party for around Rs 6.5 crore. While Rs 45.90 lakh were paid for the stamp papers, another Rs 6.5 lakh were paid as additional registration charges.
The need for a full-fledged party office in the region was felt soon after Akhilesh took over the reins of the party in 2017. This was because the SP chief was then handling Central UP affairs from Lucknow itself, while his Saifai residence served as the party's nucleus for West UP areas.
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The Purvanchal belt which consists of 28 districts comprising 164 assembly seats had to be handled from Lucknow and the leadership was keen to keep its ears to the ground in the region.
The fact that Purvanchal played the 'make or break' link belt for the SP in terms of putting the numbers on board to form the government in 2017 (14 seats) and 2022 (53) only expedited the process of setting up a party office in the region.
The campus of the new SP office is located barely 3 km from the Azamgarh district headquarters and 7 km from the Manduri airstrip, thus making it easy for senior leaders to visit it at regular intervals.
If sources are to be believed, the SP chief will monitor party's 2027 election campaign in 168 assembly seats of Purvanchal area from the Azamgarh party office itself.
The structure of the party office when completed, promises to offer more than mere ornamental value. Apart from SP chief's office and cabins for his staff including personal assistant and likes, the office a visitor's room, waiting gallery, meeting hall and ante rooms for second rung leaders.
When complete, the facility will have a 2000-capacity auditorium as well where party workers will meet the top leaders. The infrastructure promises to be at par with the party headquarters in Lucknow if not better than that.
"SP office at Azamgarh also makes a political statement as well because it falls between two important power centres of the main political rival – the BJP. While Gorakhpur – the home district of chief minister Yogi Aditynath is situated in the North of Azamgarh, prime minister's parliamentary constituency of Varanasi falls in the South," said a senior SP leader.
The SP strategists are confident that the renewed focus on Azamgarh will help the party push its PDA pitch across the Purvanchal demography which includes Yadavs, Dalits and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) like Kurmis, Rajbhars and Kushwahas, coupled with Muslims. Brahmins and Thakurs are also present in large numbers in Purvanchal and not all of them have got their share of the pie in the BJP government and will vote for the SP in 2027 polls," said a senior party functionary.
It is no surprise then that Akhilesh had named the new party office in Azamgarh as 'PDA Bhawan'. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls the PDA – comprising Pichhade (Backward classes), Dalit and Alpsankhyak (Minorities) – has sided with the SP in UP significantly contributing to put up as tally of 37 seats – party's best ever score in Parliament polls.
Choosing Azamgarh had an emotional element to it as well. In 2015, SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav had said: "Agar Mainpuri mera dil hai to Azamgarh meri dharkan hai (If Mainpuri is my heart, Azamgarh is my heartbeat)."
Mulayam's emotions for Azamgarh were not unfounded. The district has been SP's stronghold in elections. In 2012 assembly polls SP bagged all 10 assembly seats in the district. In 2017 the party won 9 and in 2022 it again won all 10 again. The Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituency has so far sent 5 SP MPs to the Parliament including Mulayam Singh (2014), Akhilesh Yadav (2019) and sitting MP Dharmendra Yadav.
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