LUCKNOW: While most of the parties are yet to formally start their election campaigns for the 2022 assembly polls, Samajwadi Party has launched a series of yatras to address various sections of the society on the basis of caste, community and occupation. At least five such yatras of the party are underway in the state.
SP insiders say the yatras are a part of party chief’s strategy to sensitize various caste communities, farmers and professionals against the BJP and at the same time find out issues of various sections at local levels. The feedback from these yatras will be used in formulating the party manifesto and plan strategy in terms of striking a balance between caste equations while finalising candidates.
Sources said the yatras are also being seen as a curtain raiser for Akhilesh Yadav’s election campaigns and will help the party strategists to chalk out the route map of party leaderships’ campaign trail.
Samvidhan Bachao Sankalp Yatra launched by the lawyer wing of the party, that was flagged off from Lucknow on August 31, will cover the entire state in eight phases, hold meetings with the lawyer community in every district and highlight failures of the ruling BJP at law and order front in general and apathy towards the lawyer community in particular. Led by state president of SP Adhivakta Sabha Pradeep Kumar Advocate, the ‘yatra’ will reach Sambhal and hold meetings with lawyers in Saharanpur on September 2, Shamli, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar on September 3 and reach Baghpat on September 4 to end at Meerut in the present phase.
Former UP minister and SP national general secretary Indrajit Saroj is leading a Janadesh Yatra in the eastern parts of the state and beyond. Aimed at raising issued pertaining to Dalits and backwards, the party has made the best of Indrajit Saroj, who belongs to Pansi sub caste of dalit and has been a four-time MLA from Kaushambi. The Yatra was flagged off from Pilibhit on Wednesday and is slated to hold meetings in 53 districts to end at Sultanpur on September 28.
SP’s alliance partner Janvadi Party (Socialist) president Sanjay Singh Chauhan is leading the ‘BJP hatao, desh bachao – Janvadi kranti yatra’ (Remove BJP to save the country) that was flagged off in Ballia on August 16 by leader of the opposition in the state assembly Ram Govind Chaudhary. The ‘yatra’ travelled through Mau, Ghazipur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Azamgarh and Ambedkar Nagar to reach Ayodhya and will end at Lucknow on Thursday.
The party is all set to flag off its fourth ‘yatra’ to be led by party national secretary Ramesh Prajapati from September 3 to 12 where the dalit leader will hold chaupals at Bijnor, Amroha, Muradabad, Sambhal and Budaun among other districts. The list includes Jan Akrosh Yatra launched by ally SP Mahan Dal.
