After U.P. results, a long queue in Delhi for SP tickets

March 10, 2012 12:29 pm | Updated 12:29 pm IST - NEW DELHI:

When the Samajwadi Party contested 58 seats in the 2007 Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections and its candidates lost their deposits in all of them, no one would have expected it to return in a big way five years on. But the party's impressive performance in the recently-concluded Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections has got the interest right back in it.

“I have been flooded with applications from candidates and the party has now decided to contest all the 272 wards in the upcoming MCD polls,” said Delhi unit president Usha Yadav, adding that she has already announced that the applications would be accepted till March 17.

Ms. Yadav said the party has already been permitted by Mulayam Singh Yadav to move on with the electoral battle in Delhi and contest all the wards in the civic body polls.

Just as in U.P., where the Samajwadi Party is now very concerned about its image and is trying to ensure that it is not associated with “goonda” elements, in Delhi too the party is taking utmost precaution with the selection of candidates.

“Most of the applications this time are from women. There is a great deal of enthusiasm among them due to the reservation of seats. I am personally looking into all the resumes and conducting a basic screening by asking them if they have any previous criminal record and what is their main source of income,” said Ms. Yadav.

As for the campaign, the Delhi unit president is hopeful that with the Parliament session due to start soon, most of the prominent leaders would be in the Capital city at the time of the elections and this would help the prospects of the party candidates.

“For us, right now the biggest challenge is to get the ‘cycle' symbol for the party. We have already applied to the State Election Commission but have come to know that Panthers' Party has also applied for the same symbol. I am sure it would ultimately be allotted to us because that has always been the symbol on which we have fought.”

The Samajwadi Party through its wider focus on the MCD polls is trying to replicate Bahujan Samaj Party's success in the last edition of the civic body elections. The BSP had won 17 wards, putting up an impressive showing in an election which has traditionally been fought between arch rivals Congress and BJP in Delhi.

This time too, despite the debacle in U.P. elections, BJP would be hoping to put up a good fight in Delhi since it has managed to win six of the seven Assembly seats adjoining the Capital in the Assembly elections.

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