National: After a bumper victory in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party is now eyeing the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. SP is preparing to contest elections in Jammu and Kashmir for the first time. So in Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra, SP has started preparations to contest elections on many seats to expand the party. Samajwadi Party is demanding seats from Congress in these states as part of an alliance. If things do not work out, then SP is preparing to jump into the fray alone. 

Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has recently appointed Jiyalal Verma, who has been active in Kashmir for a long time and has come from BSP, as the state president of Jammu and Kashmir. The party is exploring its possibilities in assembly seats like Pulwama, Sopore, Inderwal, Kishtwar, Rajpora, Kulgam and Anantnag. The party hopes that some impact of the support received from Muslims in UP can benefit it here. 

SP, which is busy in expanding its party,
has finalised seats here with some other parties in the Congress-National Conference alliance. Now there is very little hope for SP of getting seats in this state in the Congress alliance. In such a situation, the party will also contest elections alone to make its presence felt. Samajwadi Party has asked for 10 seats in Maharashtra, 10 seats in Haryana and 6 seats in Jharkhand from Congress. SP has two MLAs in Maharashtra. Recently, four in-charges have been appointed and asked to go there. If the alliance does not happen in Haryana, then SP can field its candidates on 25-28 seats. In Jharkhand, SP has asked for Bokaro, Chhattarpur, Panki, Bhawanthpur, Hussainabad and Vishrampur seats from Congress.

Akhilesh Yadav has said that BJP is hurting democracy by misusing power. It is misleading the public even in by-elections. It has not fulfilled the promises made to the public. People have been discriminated against, development work has come to a standstill. BJP government has no work to tell the public. Addressi it isng the workers on Saturday, Akhilesh said that BJP is upset due to the defeat in the Lok Sabha election.

However, clear that Akhilesh Yadav is a part of the Congress India Alliance in Uttar Pradesh. But to expand his party and organization outside Uttar Pradesh, he is following a strategy different from the alliance. Part of his party's strategy is that the party is fielding candidates in many states outside UP.