Dalit group led by Chandrashekhar Azad likely to join hands with Samajwadi Party

The SP played down the realignment but welcomed all those who ‘stands’ for social justice and democracy

Days ahead of the byelections in Mainpuri Lok Sabha and on two Assembly seats, the support extended by the Azad Samaj Party led by Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan to the Samajwadi Party (SP) clearly hints towards a realignment in the Opposition campaign with speculation rife in Lucknow that the Dalit group is likely to join hands with the SP before the 2024 General elections.

The continuous campaign by Mr. Ravan for Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) candidate Madan Bhaiya, which is an alliance partner of SP, in Khatauli and the SP candidate Asim Raza, a close aide of Azam Khan, in Rampur Sadar, is an indication that his party is all set to join the Opposition fold. Recently while campaigning with the Dalit leader in Khatauli, RLD chief and Rajya Sabha MP Jayant Chaudhary had said, “Our partnership will not be only for Khatauli, but it will demolish all calculations from Khatauli to Delhi.”

The realignment in the Opposition fold in Uttar Pradesh is seen as a win-win deal for both the SP and its alliance and the Dalit group. This is because despite garnering a 32% vote share in the 2022 Assembly election, the SP-led alliance was way short of getting majority in the State Assembly. The SP has realised it needs to form a larger coalition before the next General election to defeat the BJP. Moreover, in the Assembly election, Mr. Ravan got 7,453 votes while contesting against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur seat and also lost security deposit.

“Mr. Ravan has some influence in pockets of Western Uttar Pradesh, which might help the Opposition camp but joining of the Dalit group with the SP-led alliance is not going to have a major impact in the State as the difference in vote share between the BJP and Opposition is huge,” said Shashi Kant Pandey, a political scientist who teaches in Central University, Lucknow.

Mr. Ravan, who founded Bhim Army in 2014, and later a political front Azad Samaj Party on March 15, 2020, has not tasted any electoral success in Uttar Pradesh but is considered to enjoy huge support among the Dalit population in the Western part of the State. In 2022 polls, after announcing a tie-up with the SP, he later backtracked alleging that the SP does not need Dalits in the alliance but just wants their votes. The Dalit community constitutes roughly 21% of the State’s population.

The SP played down the realignment but welcomed all those who ‘stand’ for social justice and democracy. “Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan was included in the 2022 Assembly election alliance formation by the SP, but somehow the alliance did not materialise. Our stand from the beginning is clear, we welcome all such groups which stand for social justice and democracy,” told Ameeque Jamai, national spokesperson of the SP to The Hindu.