Before the 2027 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav has set his sights on the traditional Dalit vote bank of the Bahujan Samaj Party. The Dalit Mahasammelan organized in Agra is being considered as a big beginning of this strategy. For this, Akhilesh chose Agra, which was once considered a strong center of BSP politics. Samajwadi Party is trying to challenge BJP by linking Dalit voters with the equation of PDA i.e. Backward, Dalit and Minority. For this, the party wants to strengthen its political base not only in Agra but also in Mathura, Firozabad, Hathras, Etah, Kasganj, Aligarh and Mainpuri. In these areas, Samajwadi Party has a special eye on the assembly seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and the areas with old influence of BSP.
Agra has long been considered an important center of Dalit consciousness and Bahujan politics. During Kanshi Ram's era, BSP had created a strong organization and its own vote bank here. In the 2007 and 2012 assembly elections, BSP had won six out of nine seats each in Agra district. In the 2017 and 2022 elections, BJP won all nine seats in the district. The accounts of both Samajwadi Party and BSP were not opened. This is the reason why Akhilesh Yadav tried to give a political message by organizing a Dalit Mahasammelan in Agra before the 2027 elections. The conference was coordinated by Samajwadi Party's national general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Ramjilal Suman. The party had made preparations to mobilize workers from about 30 districts of western Uttar Pradesh. Two stages were set up in the GIC grounds and the target was set to mobilize a large number of people.
What happened in the conference, who was tried to help?
Akhilesh Yadav raised the issues of Dalit society in the conference and accused the BJP government of oppression of Dalits and insulting great men. He stressed on the unity of the PDA and said that the 2027 elections should be fought on issues like livelihood and employment. Dalit leaders and party MPs and MLAs were also given a place on the stage in the conference. Samajwadi Party MP Ramjilal Suman, calling Agra the center of Dalit consciousness, raised questions about atrocities against Dalits and government action. He also targeted the alliance of Chandrashekhar Azad and Asaduddin Owaisi and said that the forces that want to defeat BJP should come together with Samajwadi Party. There was also discussion in the conference about Bal Yogi and Rajendra Singh Rathore, who had contested the mayor's election from Firozabad, joining the Samajwadi Party. Through this event, the party tried to show its new political face and organizational strength among the Dalit community.
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Samajwadi parties of Agra keep an eye on 9 reserved seats
Along with Agra, Assamajwadi parties have a total of 40 assembly seats in eight districts of Braj and Aligarh divisions. Of these, there are nine seats reserved for Scheduled Castes. These seats are – Agra Cantt, Agra Rural, Baldev of Mathura, Tundla of Firozabad, Kishni of Mainpuri, Jalesar of Etah, Hathras, Khair and Iglas of Aligarh. These nine seats are considered important from the point of view of Dalit politics. However, having a reserved seat does not mean that Dalit voters are in majority there. Voters of all categories cast their votes on these seats, but the candidate can only be from Scheduled Caste. In the 2022 elections, BJP had won eight out of these nine seats, while the Kishni seat went to the Samajwadi Party. That is, BJP remained dominant in this entire region and Samajwadi Party faced a big challenge in terms of Dalit politics.
Samajwadi Party is second on three seats, defeated by BJP
In the 2022 elections, there were three such reserved seats where Samajwadi Party candidates stood second directly to BJP. Agra Cantt: BJP's GS Dharmesh got 1,17,796 votes, while Samajwadi Party's Kunwar Chand got 69,099 votes. BJP won this seat by 48,697 votes. Here BSP's Bharatendra Arun got 54,409 votes. Tundla: BJP's Prempal Singh Dhangar got 1,22,881 votes, while Samajwadi Party's Rakesh Babu got 75,190 votes. BJP won by a margin of 47,691 votes. Jalesar: The contest here was very close. BJP's Sanjeev Kumar got 91,339 votes, while Samajwadi Party's Ranjit Suman got 86,898 votes. BJP won this seat by just 4,441 votes. This seat can be important for the Samajwadi Party in terms of its chances of making a comeback in 2027.
BJP also captured the remaining five seats.
BJP also won the remaining five reserved seats in 2022, but at these places Samajwadi Party was not at second place. In Agra Rural, BJP's Baby Rani Maurya won and BSP's Kiran Prabha Kesari came second. BJP's Anjula Singh Mahor won in Hathras, while BSP came second. BJP's Puran Prakash won the Baldev seat of Mathura and RLD stood second. BJP's Anup Pradhan Valmiki won the Khair seat of Aligarh and BSP stood second. BJP's Rajkumar ally won in Iglas, while RLD came second. It is clear from these results that the presence of BSP is still visible in many seats among the Dalit voters in this region, while the Samajwadi Party needs to increase its base. Therefore, Akhilesh's strategy is not only to garner votes against BJP but also to increase his acceptance among the old supporters of BSP.
Samajwadi Party considering BSP's weak performance as an opportunity
In the 2022 assembly elections, BSP could not win even a single seat among the 84 Scheduled Caste reserved seats in the state. In contrast, BJP had won 58 reserved seats and Samajwadi Party had won 16 reserved seats. This figure shows that the old electoral base of BSP has weakened, but it does not mean that its entire Dalit vote has gone to the Samajwadi Party. BSP candidates stood second in many seats and their vote percentage was also notable. Samajwadi Party is seeing this political situation as an opportunity for itself. The party is working on the strategy of increasing organization among the Dalit community, bringing forward local leaders and raising issues related to Baba Saheb Ambedkar. Among the youth workers of the party, the blue T-shirt and blue gamcha of Akhilesh Yadav are also being linked with this political message.
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Challenge of Mayawati and Chandrashekhar also comes forward
Akhilesh Yadav is facing a challenge not only from BJP but also from BSP and Azad Samaj Party. Mayawati is preparing to strengthen her traditional Dalit vote bank again. A big program of BSP is proposed in Lucknow on 6th December, in which the target has been set to mobilize workers from every assembly constituency. At the same time, Chandrashekhar Azad is also busy in increasing his distinct identity and influence in Dalit politics. In such a situation, the Agra conference is not just a political beginning for the Samajwadi Party. The real test of Akhilesh Yadav will be how much he is able to convert the Dalit community into votes at the booth and assembly level by connecting with him. In 2022, BJP's victory on eight of the nine reserved seats of Agra's Samajwadi Party and the strong performance of BSP at many places had made the election picture clear.