New Delhi
The Samajwadi Party (SP) held a meeting recently where its spokespersons and YouTubers from Uttar Pradesh were invited. The meeting was helmed by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav where he asserted that the party must make efforts to dominate the social media narrative in the state to counter the BJP for the upcoming general elections to be held in 2024.
Moreover, party leaders suggested the need for creating a strong social media narrative to set up a perception in its favour among the youth as that would play a big role among the state electorate. A leader said, “The meeting was attended by those who have been active on social media and are crafty in asserting their narrative. The party spokespersons were given the task to reach out to the public in a more aggressive way. The direction was to create difficulty for the BJP whether on the ground or on social media and build a counter social media narrative.”
A party leader privy to the developments indicated that the SP chief, in the meeting, also seemed inclined towards the Congress as he spoke about the importance of the grand old party in fighting against the saffron camp. Moreover, it is believed that Akhilesh Yadav had also conveyed the significance of allying with the Congress to Bharat Rashtra Samithi chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao, when he had visited Telangana a few weeks back.
The leader while quoting Akhilesh Yadav said, “These days, the Congress doesn’t seem targeting us (SP) which indicates that they are in mood of an alliance with us. If Congress wins over 100 seats, it would be difficult for the BJP to come to power.”
Party insiders claim that the softened approach of the SP chief seemed to have come after RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav met him in Delhi and advised him about the “threat” the BJP would pose if the BJP returns at the Centre for the third time. A Congress leader said, “Rahul Gandhi has said on record that he will be accommodative in seat-sharing and that could have eased the pressure of seat-sharing from Akhilesh Yadav. This means that both the parties will negotiate and manage to have adequate seats between them. Both the leaders know the importance of coming together and thus they would work out a deal where they can fight against the BJP as one unit.”
A senior leader in the party said, “When Neta ji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) was alive, they couldn’t influence Akhilesh Yadav much and now it seems very difficult that Lalu Prasad Yadav would be able to influence him. But he could be a little more flexible as after the Bharat Jodo Yatra, there is a potential of the Congress garnering Muslim votes. In this case, Muslims are a huge support base of the Samajwadi Party, but they are inclined to vote en-masse for the Congress. It would paralyse both the camps; Congress as a national party could take a huge chunk of Muslim votes. If there is a split in votes, it would directly benefit the BJP which could sweep the Lok Sabha elections.”