SP sharpens social justice push ahead of UP polls, eyes BSP's Dalit votes

The Samajwadi Party is stepping up its efforts to expand its footprint among Dalit voters in western Uttar Pradesh, with the party set to hold a major Dalit conference in Agra on November 15 as part of its strategy ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.

The conference is being planned at Agra’s GIC ground and is expected to bring together members of the Jatav community and other Dalit groups from across western Uttar Pradesh. The larger political objective is clear — to strengthen the SP’s organisational and electoral presence among a social group that has traditionally been associated strongly with the Bahujan Samaj Party.

The move assumes significance in a region where the Dalit population constitutes a sizeable share of the electorate in several districts and can influence the outcome of Assembly seats. The SP is now looking to convert its growing political outreach among Dalits into a more sustained electoral base before the 2027 polls.

The party’s Dalit outreach in western UP is being led by Rajya Sabha MP Ramjilal Suman, who has been consistently active in cases involving alleged atrocities and harassment of Dalits in the region.

Over the past several months, Suman has visited areas where complaints involving Dalit families have emerged, met victims and their relatives, and targeted the government over law and order and the treatment of Dalits. On some occasions, his visits have also led to confrontations with the police and administration, including attempts to restrict his movement.

The SP now wants to turn that sustained ground-level activity into a larger political campaign.WHY WESTERN UP’S DALIT VOTE MATTERS

The electoral significance of the SP’s move becomes clearer from the demographic profile of western Uttar Pradesh.

According to the 2011 Census, Scheduled Castes account for around 22.43 per cent of Agra’s population. The figure is around 22.05 per cent in Saharanpur and about 22 per cent each in Bijnor and Hathras. Aligarh has a Scheduled Caste population of around 20.56 per cent, while the figure is around 19.90 per cent in Badaun, 19.56 per cent in Muzaffarnagar and around 20 per cent in Bareilly.

Mathura, Firozabad, Mainpuri and Bulandshahr also have significant Scheduled Caste populations. In Meerut, Scheduled Castes account for around 14–15 per cent of the population, while the share is around 13 per cent in Rampur and approximately 11 per cent in Baghpat and Shamli.

These are 2011 Census figures and should not be treated as the exact proportion of Dalit voters in the current electoral rolls. However, they underline the political weight of the community across several western UP districts.

For the SP, the challenge is to translate this demographic presence into electoral support.RAMJILAL SUMAN’S GROUND-LEVEL OUTREACH

The party’s strategy does not begin with the November 15 conference. It follows a sustained effort by Ramjilal Suman to establish a political connection with Dalit communities in western Uttar Pradesh.

Whenever complaints of Dalit atrocities or harassment have surfaced, Suman has sought to reach the affected areas, meet the families and raise the issue politically. His interventions have frequently put him at odds with the local administration and police.

The SP believes this activity has helped Suman establish a presence among Dalit communities in parts of western UP.

The Agra conference is now being planned as a larger platform to consolidate that outreach. The party intends to put issues concerning the Dalit community at the centre of the event, including cases of alleged atrocities and harassment reported during the current government’s tenure.

The message the SP wants to send is that it is not merely seeking Dalit votes during an election but wants to position itself as a political voice for the community’s dignity, self-respect and rights.AKHILESH YADAV TO JOIN AS CHIEF GUEST

SP national president and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will be the chief guest at the Agra conference.

His presence is expected to give the event a larger political dimension. While Suman has been working to build a grassroots connection with Dalit communities in western UP, Akhilesh’s participation will allow the party to link that outreach with its broader electoral campaign.

The SP is also expected to focus on bringing together Jatavs as well as other Dalit communities at the conference.

That is a significant part of the party’s strategy. The Dalit vote in western Uttar Pradesh is not a monolithic bloc, and its electoral behaviour has varied across regions and communities. The SP therefore faces the challenge of expanding its appeal beyond individual groups and building a wider Dalit coalition.SP’S BIG 2027 QUESTION

The November 15 conference is ultimately less about the size of the gathering and more about whether the SP can convert its Dalit outreach into electoral gains.

The party is seeking to establish itself in a vote base where the BSP has historically had a strong political presence. For the SP, even a partial shift in Dalit support could have consequences in closely contested Assembly constituencies.

The strategy also comes at a time when political parties in Uttar Pradesh are already beginning to position themselves for the 2027 Assembly elections.

For the SP, the questions are several: Can Ramjilal Suman’s sustained activity on Dalit issues translate into a durable political connection? Can Akhilesh Yadav use that groundwork to build greater trust among Dalit voters? And, most importantly, can the party make enough inroads into the Dalit vote in western UP to alter the electoral arithmetic?

The November 15 Agra conference will provide an early indication of whether the SP’s Dalit outreach is simply an expansion of its political messaging or the beginning of a more serious attempt to redraw the social and electoral equations of western Uttar Pradesh.

For the Samajwadi Party, the calculation is straightforward: in a region where Dalit votes can determine the outcome on several seats, even a modest shift in voter preference could have an outsized impact on the 2027 Assembly election.- EndsPublished By: Akash ChatterjeePublished On: Sep 15, 2026 00:03 IST