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Azad Samaj Party exploring pre-poll alliance in Uttar Pradesh
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Chandrashekhar said the ASP had not finalized the alliance and talks were on with various political parties. The decision over alliance and the number of seats the ASP would contest would be decided soon, he said.
The Azad Samaj Party (ASP) led by Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad will contest the 2022 assembly election in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with like-minded political parties.
The Congress, the nine-party alliance of the Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha and Samajwadi Party leaders had parleys with the Bhim Army chief over the pre-poll alliance in the assembly election.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Chandrashekhar said the ASP had not finalized the alliance and talks were on with various political parties. The decision over alliance and the number of seats the ASP would contest would be decided soon, he said.
To mobilize the party cadre for the assembly elections, the ASP launched a bicycle yatra on July 1 in 403 assembly segments in the state. The 21-day yatra concluded at Lucknow on Wednesday (July 21). The party organized the cycle yatra before elections to grab the legacy of Dalit icon and BSP founder Kanshi Ram. “To mobilize the Dalit community, Kanshi Ram had travelled on bicycle across UP,” Chandrashekhar said.
The ASP will the raise the issue of increasing atrocities over the Dalit community in UP, appointment on vacant posts according to the reservation formula and implementation of SC/ST/OBC reservation policy in appointments for government jobs.
The ASP would also raise the issue of rise in the prices of essential commodities, misuse of government machinery and use of money and muscle power by the BJP in the recently concluded zila panchayat chairperson and block pramukh elections, he said.
To win the support of the Muslim community, Azad had met Shia cleric Syed Saif Abbas on Wednesday.
The ASP had contested the Bihar assembly election held in October last year in alliance with Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) led by Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav. ASP and JAP joined Progressive Democratic Alliance (PDA) of the smaller political parties. The ASP failed to open its account despite a month -long campaign by Chandrashekhar Azad.
In the zila panchayat ward election s held in UP in May the Bhim Army made its presence felt, winning wards in Bijnore, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur districts.
