SP keen to contest 10-12 seats as MVA ally

While the SP won 37 seats in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, 31 MPS were present on Friday at Friday’s felicitation ceremony at Rangsharda Auditorium

Mumbai: The Samajwadi Party (SP) is keen to contest around 10-12 seats in the upcoming assembly polls as part of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, recently elected MPs of the party said at a function in the city on Friday. Party leader and MP Awadhesh Prasad, who defeated the BJP in the constituency that houses the ram temple in Ayodhya, said he would tour the country to expose the saffron party.

While the SP won 37 seats in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, 31 MPS were present on Friday at Friday’s felicitation ceremony at Rangsharda Auditorium. The programme was in line with the party’s preparations for the assembly polls in the state, marking the first time so many party MPs were in Mumbai. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

While the SP won 37 seats in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, 31 MPS were present on Friday at Friday’s felicitation ceremony at Rangsharda Auditorium. The programme was in line with the party’s preparations for the assembly polls in the state, marking the first time so many party MPs were in Mumbai. The MPs are likely to meet NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday. The party currently has two MLAs in Maharashtra.

Speaking at the programme, Awdhesh Prasad took a jibe at the BJP, saying they were sure of winning the Faizabad seat in the backdrop of the Ram temple construction. “They were confident that no one would be able to defeat them because of the Ram mandir construction. But the people gave them a clear message that the politics of religion won’t work,” he said.

Expressing his desire to undertake a countrywide tour to expose the BJP, he said, “The BJP has been indulging in the politics of religion which won’t work from now on.”

Bhiwandi MLA Rais Shaikh, one of the party’s two MLAs in the state, also spoke at the programme. “Akhilesh Yadav is one of the pillars of the INDIA coalition. If he insists, the Samajwadi Party will get to contest ten seats in Maharashtra as an MVA ally,” he said.

The party’s state chief Abu Asim Azmi raised the issue of the Vishalgad Fort, where a mob led by right wing groups attacked Gajapur village and vandalized a mosque. “In a country like India, this should not be allowed. A mob should not be allowed to gather to remove any encroachment,” he said and urged the party MPs to raise the issue in the monsoon session of the Parliament starting next week.

Azmi also said that they should set a target of getting national party status for Samajwadi Party. “The initiative should begin from Maharashtra, from the state assembly polls,” he said.

Before the event, the MPs along with Azmi and other party leaders visited prominent locations in the city including Mani Bhavan, Siddhivinayak Temple, Chaityabhoomi and Mahim Dargah.