Moradabad And Rampur: How Samajwadi Party Self-Sabotaged Its Chances In Two Strongholds

Moradabad and Rampur are two of the five Lok Sabha seats that the Samajwadi Party (SP) won in the 2019 elections. But the high-voltage drama in these two constituencies on the last day of nominations has cast shadows on its 2024 prospects.

The process of nomination from the SP's side was not only replete with confusion, where it appeared that two SP candidates on each seat had filed their papers, but also ended with disgruntlement among the party cadre.

Jailed SP leader Azam Khan is considered to have played a decisive role in deciding the candidate for the Moradabad seat and is also said to be behind the party workers' call for the boycott of the elections in Rampur.

It is pertinent to mention that these are the first Lok Sabha elections since the demise of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and the events in Moradabad and Rampur have raised questions over Akhilesh Yadav's handling of party affairs.

The SP announced the candidature of sitting Moradabad MP S T Hasan on its official 'X' handle on Sunday (24 March). He even filed his nomination papers on Tuesday.

However, a day later, Ruchi Veera from SP itself also filed her nomination papers, armed with a letter from Akhilesh Yadav cancelling Hasan's nomination.

This disappointed party cadre who were supporting Hasan. When news about the candidate change emerged in Moradabad on Tuesday, some SP members protested and also burnt Veera's effigy.

Reports say that it was under Azam Khan's pressure that S T Hasan was replaced with Ruchi Veera. She is considered close to Khan and has come back to the SP after being with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for a while.

Veera was the Bijnor MLA from 2014 to 2017. She again contested here on the SP ticket in 2017 but lost to a BJP candidate. She then joined BSP and contested the 2022 elections from Bijnor on the BSP ticket but lost again.

After being expelled from the Mayawati-led BSP, she came back to the SP in 2023. Her candidature is being opposed for her past political affiliations and her being an outsider to Moradabad.

Despite these reasons, Veera was given a ticket at Azam Khan's insistence. Akhilesh Yadav had gone to Sitapur jail on Friday to meet Khan and discuss the candidates. Apparently, in this meeting, Veera's name was given to Yadav.

On the other hand, while Yadav followed Khan's word for the Moradabad seat, he decided the Rampur candidate on his own. Khan asked Yadav to contest in Rampur. However, Yadav declined Khan's proposal and instead fielded the Imam of Delhi's Parliament Street Jama Masjid, Maulana Mohibullah Nadvi.

Khan wanted that if not Yadav himself, then SP's Rampur president Asim Raza should contest the election. However, with Raza having lost both by-elections (on seats vacated by Khan) in Rampur, one assembly and one parliamentary, Yadav did not wish to give him a chance again.

Yadav instead brought Nadvi, who hails from the Suar Assembly segment, falling under Rampur Lok Sabha constituency, but still is considered an outsider for living in Delhi for a long time.

The local party cadre are reportedly disappointed over this and with the alleged support of Azam Khan, have announced to boycott the elections. The SP is now busy with damage control.

While Shivpal Yadav is going to Sitapur jail to convince Khan over Rampur, Akhilesh Yadav is planning to overhaul the Rampur organisation to avoid the effect of the boycott call.

Meanwhile, Asim Raza has filed his nomination as an Independent with the apparent backing of Azam Khan. Raza had always been Khan's choice. Khan first made him contest the Rampur Lok Sabha seat by-polls when Khan vacated the seat to become an MLA.

However, Azam Khan could not keep his assembly seat as well because he was disqualified after being sentenced to three years in jail in a 2019 hate speech case. Asim Raza contested the by-polls for Rampur Assembly seat. He lost both seats to the BJP.

This tussle over Moradabad and Rampur also reflects the SP's dependence on the Muslim vote bank to the extent that Akhilesh Yadav not only had to placate Azam Khan in jail, he (Yadav) being party president could not even nominate a candidate of his choice in Moradabad.

Khan calling shots in Moradabad and Yadav ignoring Khan's suggestion in Rampur have created factions within the party. This will likely benefit the BJP in two constituencies where its chances were less than bright.

In 2019, both Moradabad and Rampur were among the five seats that the SP emerged victorious in. In Moradabad, Hasan won by a margin of nearly a lakh votes over his BJP rival, and in Rampur, Azam Khan defeated Jaya Prada (BJP) by almost 110,000 votes.