SP’s allies get restive after bypoll defeat

Lucknow : Allies of the Samajwadi Party are now getting increasingly restive, following the party’s stunning defeat in Rampur and Azamgarh that were considered to be the strongholds of the party.
“Akhilesh Yadav needs to do some serious rethinking about his party. He needs to move out of the air-conditioned comfort of his home and office and should connect directly with the people,” said Om Prakash Rajbhar, president of the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP).
He said that politics was now a 24×7 job and it would be better if Akhilesh realized this.
“The BJP is on a winning spree because it never stops working at the ground level. The by-elections are over and BJP cadres have been tasked with preparations for the Lok Sabha elections which are almost a year and a half away,” he said.
Janwadi Party chief, Sanjay Chauhan, another ally of the Samajwadi Party, also slammed the SP for its defeat in the by elections.
“Akhilesh Yadav did not campaign and this dampened the mood of party workers. I do not know if he was over-confident or not but he should have campaigned, Azamgarh was his own constituency and his absence had an adverse impact on voters and supporters,” he said.