The national convention of the Samajwadi Party (SP), scheduled to be held in Lucknow, will have more on its agenda than the re-election of Mulayam Singh Yadav as its president.

Buoyed at the unexpected victory in by-elections, the party wants to strengthen the opposition against the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre. For this, it is dusting out Yadav’s pet concept of socialist unity.

A top SP leader who is holding negotiations with various socialist splinter groups said the national conference will give a direction to the future course of “Samajwadi Politics” in the country. “Leaders like HD Deve Gowda are in touch with us. Mulayam Singh Yadav is talking to all senior socialist leaders such as Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar. We are sure of forming a grand platform of socialist parties at the national level,” the leader added.

The party had appreciated the decision of the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Janata Dal (United) to contest the Bihar by-elections together. “Socialist parties are a big force in the country. The need of the hour is our unity,” the leader said and added that the SP will take the lead in this.

He said the by-election results proved that the BJP can be challenged effectively on the ground.

“Of course, we were in a state of shock after the Lok Sabha elections. But the by-poll results gave us a different picture.

“In some seats, where we had gone third in 2011 despite an Akhilesh Yadav wave, our performance was unpredicted. The people want us. A big section of the BSP voters has also voted for us,” the SP leader added.

Course corrections

The leader further said the SP has already made course corrections. “We made several changes in the Government. We are sure that people will continue to accept the pro-poor policies of the SP Government. Organisational changes will be made in the national convention,” the leader added.

The party is all set to launch protests against the China policy of the Centre.

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