Failure to win even a single seat in the recently-concluded assembly by-elections has forced the Samajwadi Party to make efforts to regain the trust of its traditional Muslim voters.

The SP suffered a major setback when the party lost the Firozabad Lok Sabha seat where Mulayam's daughter-in-law, Dimple Yadav was defeated by Raj Babbar of Congress by a huge margin of 85,000 votes. Firozabad seat had been an SP stronghold. Mulayam's son Akhilesh had won from there in the Lok Sabha elections, but he quit it as he decided to retain his old Kannauj seat.

Muslims of Firozabad did not vote for Dimple Yadav. What was more shocking, the SP lost the support of even Yadavs in Itawah and Bharthana where party candidates lost by huge margins.

Mulayam lost Muslim support because he joined hands with Kalyan Singh for consolidation of backward votes. Mulayam thought Kalyan Singh would help him get the support of Lodh Rajputs. His understanding with Kalyan angered the Muslims who stopped supporting SP candidates. Muslims never forgave Kalyan for his role in the demolition of Babri masjid on December 6, in 1992.

Mulayam suffered a jolt in the Lok Sabha elections when he could not ensure the victory of any Muslim candidates. A large number of Muslim leaders of Samajwadi Party were so upset with Kalyan Singh-Mulayam Singh Yadav pact that they quit the party. Prominent among them was Mohd Azam Khan, considered the Muslim face of the party. Other important Muslim leaders who left the party were Salim Sherwani and Shafiquir Rehman Warq.

A chastened Mulayam distanced himself from Kalyan Singh in the wake of the Firozabad election reverse.

Samajwadi Party MLA in Maharashtra, Abu Asim Azmi who invited the wrath of Raj Thackeray for taking oath in Hindi, has now become the Muslim face of the party; he was accorded a warm welcome in Lucknow. Muslims were invited to the party function where Azmi was felicitated by Mulayam and Amar Singh,

In a clear attempt to mollify the Muslims, Mulayam has also declared the party's intent to start an agitation from December 6 to mount pressure on the UPA government for re-construction of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya.

Also, on his birthday, Mulayam met a group of Muslim clerics and other prominent leaders and assured them that his party would fight for their cause. Mulayam said a section of Muslims was misguided which was reflected in the Lok Sabha and the by-elections. But he exuded confidence that Muslims would return to the Samajwadi Party's fold, again. (IPA Service)