The Samajwadi Party (SP) is set to launch its “Save the Country – Build the Country” cycle rally as political temperatures in Uttar Pradesh are on the rise over the caste-based census. All political parties in the state are gearing up for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Amid allegations and counter-allegations and protests to establish their influence among voters, parties are also organising electoral campaigns. Parties are putting in great effort to secure their victory.
The SP is also aiming to win all 80 seats in the elections. In pursuit of this goal, SP’s national president, Akhilesh Yadav, has devised a new strategy. Under this strategy, cycle rallies will be organized in all 24 districts of the state.
These rallies will help highlight issues such as the caste-based census. The SP is actively preparing to oust the BJP from power in Uttar Pradesh. The rally will commence from Prayagraj on 9 August, coinciding with the Kranti Divas (Revolution Day), and will be led by SP’s youth leader and Allahabad University student, Abhishek Yadav, with the participation of several senior party leaders.
State president Naresh Uttam has also urged senior leaders to be a part of the rally. The main objective of this rally is to reach out to the public with the policies, ideologies, and works of Akhilesh Yadav. The party has issued a statement regarding the cycle rally, stating that they will present the policies and socialist ideology of the SP to the youth. It also accused the BJP of oppressing and harassing marginalised communities and minorities. They consider the BJP’s slogan of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas” incomplete without a caste-based census.
The party will focus on the demands for a caste-based census as well as the atrocities happening in the name of reservations and the exploitation of farmers.
The rally will cover districts such as Kaushambi, Chitrakoot, Banda, Fatehpur, Raebareli, Pratapgarh, Amethi, Sultanpur, Ambedkarnagar, Faizabad, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gorakhpur, Deoria, Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Siddharthnagar, Balrampur, Shravasti, Bahraich, Gonda, Barabanki, and Lucknow, passing through all the SP offices, assembly seats, and tehsils to present the party’s policies, ideologies, and work to the public and attempt to connect people with the party.
Through this rally, the Samajwadi Party is aiming to increase the political temperature and focus on the issue of the caste-based census before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Akhilesh had strongly criticised the BJP government for not conducting this census. He also questioned why it was possible to conduct it in Bihar but not UP. If the SP forms the government, they will conduct the caste-based census within three months, he claimed.
The Samajwadi Party has completed its preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and is also working to strengthen the party at the booth level. After the 2019 elections, where the party won only a few seats, they are making efforts to strengthen their position. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the SP won five seats. However, after the 2019 elections, the SP faced defeat in two by-elections, including SP stronghold Azamgarh.