33 years after its foundation,SP to get 1st office in Jhansi
2
Lucknow: After a palatial party office in Azamgarh to be used as headquarters for the Purvanchal region,
Samajwadi Party
is now ready to set-up a permanent party office in
Jhansi
to serve as the party's nerve centre for Bundelkhand region.
The party purchased a 3.67 acres plot of land for the purpose on May 25 this year.
Akhilesh Yadav
's renewed focus on Bundelkhand is being seen as a strategic move ahead of the 2027 assembly polls. Till 2012 assembly polls, SP remained among the top two contenders in the Bundelkhand belt (in UP) comprising 19 seats spread across Banda, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Mahoba and Lalitpur. SP won five seats and stood second to BSP in another 5 seats.
However, 2017 state polls remained a clean sweep for BJP and, in 2022, SP won three seats. Of the remaining 16, two went to Apna Dal (Sonelal) and the rest to BJP. Political analysts say that the 2024 Lok Sabha polls — where SP led INDIA bloc won three of four seats in the region – has again prompted the party strategists to focus on Bundelkhand.
According to political experts, Bundelkhand has the right combination to suit SP's PDA push.
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"The demography is Bundelkhand suits the PDA nicely with a population of 24% upper castes and 25% Dalits, including scheduled tribes. Of the 35% OBC population, Kurmis comprise the largest chunk of over 7%, followed by Lodh, Kushwahas, Prajapati and Yadavs. SP seems to be banking on 16% Muslim population as well," said an analyst.
In the political circles, SP's new party office in Jhansi is being seen as an attempt to assure the electorate that the party wants to focus on the region afresh.
Situated along NH 44 (Srinagar to Kanyakumari), the party office is coming up on Jhansi-Gwalior Road, a few kilometres from Datiya airport. The levelling work of the plot is underway and party functionaries have formally applied for sanction of the map. Foundation of the party office will be laid once the map is approved.
Senior SP functionaries say Akhilesh Yadav personally monitored the entire process of choosing the plot of land, its registry and the finer details of the plan layout for the office.
On ground, Akhilesh had chosen a young functionary, Rahul Yadav of Babina in Jhansi, as his pointsman to execute the job. Rahul was Akhilesh's pick for Babina assembly seat for the 2017 assembly polls but his candidature was opposed by Shivpal Yadav who backed former SP MP from Jhansi Chandra Pal Yadav's son for the seat.
"The construction work of the party office will begin soon. As per the plan layout, the building will have two floors.
The ground floor will comprise a conference hall, cabins for office bearers and a meeting hall. The first floor will have a guest house. The party office will have a large auditorium as well," Rahul Yadav told TOI over phone.
Unlike Azamgarh, setting up a party office in Jhansi had its own speed bumps for the leadership. To start with, a section of senior functionaries in Bundelkhand were not keen on having an office in the region.
So much so that when SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav was at the helm, two serious attempts were made to purchase premises in Jhansi but the deals could not be finalised.
SP does not have a permanent address in Jhansi till date since the party's inception in 1992 and has been operating from rented accommodations and hotels during elections — something that Akhilesh Yadav has not been happy with since he took the reins of the party.
At a meeting of party functionaries in Jhansi in Sept last, Akhilesh had expressed his displeasure over resistance from some senior functionaries of the region over the party's plans of a permanent office in the region.
SP functionaries in Bundelkhand were weary of seeing a permanent party office come up in Jhansi because of the fear that the crowd of foot-soldiers, who till now gathered on the premises of these leaders, would shift to the party office. Allegations are that some functionaries walked the extra mile to derail party brass's efforts to find a permanent address for SP in Jhansi.
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