Lucknow: In a significant announcement, the Samajwadi Party, a key constituent of the INDIA alliance, has pledged to allocate a minimum of 20 per cent of its tickets to women candidates for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Despite the setback in Parliament regarding the demand for a 33 per cent quota within the OBCs (Other Backward Classes) women category, the Samajwadi Party is confident that this move will give them an advantage in the perception battle and pressurise the BJP to follow suit.
Akhilesh Yadav, the chief of the Samajwadi Party, made this declaration, emphasising the party’s commitment to women’s representation.
He stated, ‘We want to tell our women, sisters, and party members that if there is any woman worker or office-bearer who has worked in her area... whether the BJP fields 33 per cent women or not, the SP will allocate 20 per cent of the tickets to them.’ Yadav delivered this statement during a rally in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh.
Following Akhilesh’s bold announcement, the spotlight is not only on the Samajwadi Party but also on other political players.
A senior SP leader asserted, ‘We will not allow the BJP to capitalise on the Women Reservation Law in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. In fact, the Samajwadi Party will compel the BJP to defend its credibility and credentials among women voters by offering an equal number of tickets to women candidates as announced by our party.’ This strategic move is expected to help the party address negative perceptions and challenges it may face.
Uttar Pradesh, the state that sends the largest contingent of 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha, will play a crucial role in this endeavor. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, there were 11 women MPs from UP, with eight of them being BJP candidates, one from BJP ally Apna Dal, one from the Congress, and one from the BSP. Allocating 20 per cent of the tickets to women candidates will pose a challenge for the SP, which fielded only six women candidates in 2019 when it contested in alliance with the BSP. None of them emerged victorious, including Dimple Yadav, Akhilesh’s wife, who later won a by-election for the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat in 2022.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in UP, there were 106 women candidates in the fray, including Independents. While 11 emerged victorious, 84 lost their deposits.
The BJP had fielded 10 women candidates, with eight of them securing victory.