SP meet to mull over poll strategy

 Chalking out electoral strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha election and assembly polls in some states, and the possibility of forming a non-Congress and non-BJP front, would be high on the agenda during the Samajwadi Party's (SP) two-day national executive committee meeting, beginning from September 11 at Haridwar in Uttarakhand.

Buoyed by the massive victory in last year's assembly poll in Uttar Pradesh, the SP was now eyeing a similar clean sweep in the politically crucial state in the forthcoming general election as well, so that it could be in a strong position after the 2014 poll. According to SP leaders here, the two-day meeting would adopt a series of resolutions slamming the “anti-people” policies of the Congress-led UPA regime as well as the “communal politics” of the BJP.

The party leaders said they would also discuss and devise plans to expand the party's base in the states other than UP in a bid to win a couple of seats.

“We have already made entry into Karnataka and a few other states,” said a senior SP leader while speaking to Deccan Herald.

UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had already toured Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and discussed the strategy with the local leaders, he pointed out.

“We have set ourselves a target of winning at least 60 seats from UP in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll... It looks a tall order, but we will certainly give it a try,” the leader went on to add.

SP leaders said the changed political scenario in the country in the wake of BJP's possible projection of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime-ministerial candidate and its effect on the state's voters would also be discussed at the meet. “We will like to make sure that the Muslim votes remain with us in the event of a possible polarisation,” said the leaders.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha poll, Muslims had supported the Congress at many places, as a result of which the SP had had to suffer heavy electoral losses.
The choice of the venue is also no less significant. Haridwar is known to be home to a large number of sadhus, many of whom are considered to be sympathetic to the cause of the Ram Temple movement.
Besides, the SP regime had recently arrested a large number of saints while it cracked down on the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's failed “yatra” last month. “We want to send a message that we are not against the sadhus,” said the leaders.
DH News Service