SDPI seeks to make inroads in Madhya Pradesh with local body polls

BHOPAL:  After making its presence felt in the local body polls in Kerala and Karnataka over the last two years, the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) is all set to test the waters in Madhya Pradesh.
The SDPI, considered the political wing of the extremist group, the Popular Front of India (PFI), is planning to contest the upcoming local body elections in MP. 

While the party’s state unit is planning to field and back candidates in both rural and urban local bodies, the focus is likely to be on the urban bodies, particularly in the Muslim-dominated districts. “Our meeting is scheduled in the next few days and by June 7-8, we’ll declare the final list of our candidates for the local body polls, particularly the urban local body polls,” state SDPI president Irfan-ul-Haq Ansari told this newspaper.

The party had contested in a few municipal wards in Jabalpur and Indore just after it was founded in 2009. But now it plans to be a serious player in the urban local body polls, which are scheduled to be held on July 6 and 13. “We already have our cadres in 10-12 districts, including Bhopal, Jabalpur, Indore, Shajapur, and some other districts in the Malwa-Nimar region,” Ansari added.

The party will also be a serious contender for post of mayors in four out of the 16 municipal corporations — Bhopal, Jabalpur, Indore and Ujjain. “For the last 3-4 times, the BJP candidates have been elected as mayors in these cities. Why should we then waste our vote for the Congress? It’s time our people have their own serious contestants,” Ansari said.

Besides Muslim candidates, the party will also field persons from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes communities in the upcoming polls. While the Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM is yet to finalise its plans to contest in the local body polls, the SDPI is open to having a tie-up with them.

“The AIMIM only makes noise, but doesn’t seem to have a strong presence on the ground in MP. We’re open to fighting the polls in understanding with them,” Ansari said. The SDPI has gained prominence in the state after the anti-CAA/NRC protests. Ansari was among those  who were arrested by the police in connection with the violence in Jabalpur in December 2019.