Cycle to run in MP; SP joins all-seat fight

Undeterred by failure in its electoral ventures in Gujarat and Karnataka, the Samajwadi Party is all geared up to contest all 230 seats in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls scheduled later this year.

"Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav was on a three-day visit from May 18 to MP during which he made it clear that the party will be contesting polls on all 230 seats. This time 'cycle' (SP symbol) will run in MP also," SP chief spokesman Rajendra Chowdhury told PTI.

Akhilesh toured extensively in the areas bordering UP from Bundelkhand to Vindhya region. He addressed the public in Sidhi and Satna districts of Vindhya region, besides Khajuraho in Chhattarpur district of Bundelkhand.

"The SP will help people of MP get rid of 15 years misrule of BJP. We will try to save people of MP from BJP's conspiracy and fight for them," Akhilesh said in one of his meetings in MP.

"Akhileshji has emphasied that development can only take place in an amicable atmosphere. BJP's hate and divisive politics weaken the foundation of democracy and affects development", Chowdhury said and added that the recent visit got a tremendous response from the people of MP.

Akhilesh also tried to drive home the point that the development which UP had witnessed in his regime is still "elusive" in MP, citing examples of the Agra-Lucknow expressway, metro project, Samajwadi Party pension schemes and a number of welfare schemes launched in his regime.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) had contested five of the 182 assembly seats in Gujarat while in the recently held Karnataka polls the party had fielded 24 candidates.

For MP, SP is also open for an alliance with the Congress, but the decision in this regard will be taken at the right time, SP sources said.

The Congress and the Samajwadi Party had struck an alliance in Uttar Pradesh for the assembly elections in 2017. The Congress had contested 105 of the 403 seats while the SP battled it out in 298 seats.

When pointed out that the SP had not opened its account in the last assembly polls in MP, Chowdhury said the situation this time is different and people are "fed up" with the misrule and want a "change".

"As MP and UP are close and people of both states frequent each other, they feel the difference when they visit UP. Our work in SP regime is being appreciated there and they are looking for the SP to enter poll fray," Chowdhury, who had accompanied Akhilesh in the MP tour, said.