It would be worth mentioning here that out of 80 Lok Sabha seats from UP, the SP has 10 out of 17 reserved constituencies. The Mayawati-led BSP, considered to be the party of Dalits, has only two seats, while the BJP and the Congress, too, have two each, while the RLD has one seat.

Now, the Samajwadi Party is so concerned about retaining hold in the reserved constituencies that it denied ticket to two sitting MPs.

Instead, it has given ticket in Agra to RLD sitting MP from Hathras Sarika Devendra Singh Baghel, who has already joined SP.

Similarly, the SP has opted for Orai MLA Daya Shankar Singh in place of Ghanshyam Anuragi. There are reports that Ghanshyam was not taking much interest in campaigning, and was emerging as a weak candidate in the eyes of party observers.

In Bulandshahr also, the SP has given ticket to Sunita Chauhan in place of Kamlesh Valmiki, who had been very close to Kalyan Singh.

The Samajwadi Party has also changed candidates in two constituencies where the party had lost the polls. In the prestigious seat of Agra, the party has opted for Sarika in place of veteran Ramji Lal Suman.

In Lalganj also, the SP has given ticket to MLA Bechai Saroj, In Barabanki, the SP has picked Rajrani Rawat in place of last time candidate Ram Sagar Rawat. Rajrani had been a BJP MLA but is now in SP.

Mulayam Singh Yadav has issued instructions to the Dalit leaders of the party to organise meeting with dalit leaders at block levels and inform them about the achievements of Akhilesh Yadav government and spread awareness about distribution of laptops to youths and other important schemes meant for development of Dalits.

Senior political analyst Surendra Rajput says that there is realisation within SP that it could not win more seats while ignoring Dalits and the party is now more keen to make inroads into this crucial voter segment. (IPA)