Lok Sabha elections 2024 |Eyeing OBC vote bank in Uttar Praesh, Samajwadi Party appoints Shyam Lal Pal as its new state chief

Lucknow: Seeking to dent the OBC vote bank of the BJP, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday appointed Shyam Lal Pal -- an OBC -- as the chief of the party's UP unit, just a day before the third phase of polling for Lok Sabha elections.

Pal, who hailed from Prayagraj, was a prominent OBC leader in the party and wielded considerable influence in the 'Pal' community (an OBC), which had a sizable strength in the eastern and Awadh region of the state.

An SP spokesman here said that the outgoing state unit president Naresh Uttam Patel, who was in the fray from Fatehpur Lok Sabha seat, was not able to devote time for organisational works as he was busy campaigning there.

''Patel had expressed his desire to be relieved of the responsibility of the state unit chief,'' the spokesman added.

Pal had earlier contested assembly polls from Pratappur seat in Prayagraj as a candidate of the Apna Dal (AD), an alliance partner of the BJP, in 2002. He later joined the SP and was appointed vice-president of the state executive committee of the party recently.

Pal's appointment in the midst of the LS elections assumes significance as it was part of Akhilesh's efforts to showcase his 'PDA' (Pichda,Dalit, Alpsankhyak) formula to dent the OBC vote bank of the BJP.

''Pal's appointment will certainly send a message to the OBC community about our commitment to them,'' said a senior SP leader here while speaking to DH. Akhilesh had recently undertaken a 'PDA Yatra' across the state.

That the SP, which had often been accused of promoting only the 'Yadavs' among the OBCs, was serious with its 'PDA formula' could be gauged from the fact that this time it had fielded only four Yadav candidates.

Interestingly all the four, who included Akhilesh and his wife Dimple Yadav, were from the SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav's family only.