SP to contest UP polls as part of INDIA bloc: Akhilesh
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Lucknow: Former CM and SP chief
Akhilesh Yadav
on Monday said his party would contest the 2027 assembly polls in UP as a part of the INDIA bloc, the party's combination with the Congress and other regional parties that had given the SP its highest-ever tally of seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"SP chief has reiterated that our party will contest the UP assembly polls as a part of the INDIA bloc and this has been the stance of the party chief since the Lok Sabha polls," party's national secretary Rajendra Chaudhary told TOI on Monday.
Akhilesh's statement, made while presiding over a meeting of the office-bearers and cadres of party's minority cell held at the party headquarters, was being seen as an attempt to reaffirm that the assembly elections would see SP joining hands with the Cong.
SP insiders said the party leadership was open to joining hands with other some regional parties as well and the list included some "who were presently close to the BJP as well".
In April, while responding to media queries in Prayagraj, Akhilesh had said that SP would contest the assembly polls in UP under the INDIA bloc dropping clear hints that party's alliance with Congs was very much alive for the assembly polls in UP as well.
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In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls the SP-Cong alliance bagged 43 out of the total of 80 seats in the state, confining the BJP-led NDA to 36 seats. The SP won 37 seats while the Congress bagged 6 seats.
While addressing the office-bearers of the party's minority wing, Akhilesh called upon the cadres to keep a close watch on voters list and caste census stating that the BJP was capable of hatching conspiracies to tamper both. "We will have to be extra cautious at the booth level and keep an eye on the caste census process as well.
The BJP is capable of manipulating anything," Akhilesh said.
The national president of SP minority wing Maulana Iqbal Qadri and regional head Shakeel Nadvi also addressed the gathering. Party's national secretary Rajendra Chaudhary, state president Shyam Lal Pal and a host of party MPs and MLAs also attended the meeting.
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