Lucknow: ‘The road to Delhi passes through Uttar Pradesh’ is a popular saying in the corridors of politics, reflecting the belief that the party which sweeps Uttar Pradesh usually manages to lead the govt at the Centre as well.But the students’ protest at Jantar Mantar appears to have reversed the saying for the Samajwadi Party this time. The impromptu, active and fierce participation by the party brass in students’ protest at Jantar Mantar seems to have set the tone for SP’s poll campaign for the 2027 UP elections which are round the corner.Political analysts are of the view that what helped the Samajwadi Party the most to strike a chord with the protesting youth and students was the unambiguous and open support from party president Akhilesh Yadav who was the first among the top political leaders to call up Sonam Wangchuk on July 14 and appeal to him to break his fast. Barely 48 hours later, Dimple Yadav was by Wangchuk’s side at Jantar Mantar. This was the first time that any political party’s top leadership identified itself with Jantar Mantar crowd and it got noticed.Another factor that went in SP’s favour was the fact that the build-up from the Samajwadi Party was organic and did not smack of any planned political strategy. This clicked with the students who did not feel awkward sharing space with political leaders. Before that, the CJP activists had shown identifiable disenchantment with political personalities, a political commentator said.“Call it a co-incidence or a conscious decision, Dimple’s entry into the scene sans signs or colours of politics, worked. Neither she herself nor any of the MPs accompanying her wore SP’s traditional red caps,” he said.The images of Dimple at Jantar Mantar were still afresh in the minds of the people when a day later SP chief Akhilesh Yadav joined the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi to stage a demonstration near Prime Minister’s residence. Visuals of Akhilesh’s presentive arrest – sitting inside a bus and being taken away – saw youth, students and young SP cadre dart towards Delhi in cars, SUVs and even buses. Back home in Uttar Pradesh, protests gained further momentum till the police cracked down on SP functionaries.“The state govt has unleashed an undeclared red alert for the last four days. Party functionaries are being placed under house arrest. But that has not helped in stopping protests at the district level because what the govt has not realised is that this protest is not led by political cadre but youth and students who connect with SP,” said senior SP functionary and former MLC Udaiveer Singh.Police sources said once intelligence reports of SP functionaries and workers heading to Delhi came in shortly after Akhilesh was taken into custody outside the PM’s residence in Delhi, the district police fanned out to stop any mass mobilisation by putting SP functionaries under house arrest. But that did not stop protests by youth and students at the district level.Be it the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth in Varanasi, Chandra Shekhar Azad state at Civil Lines in Prayagraj, or Lucknow University students at Parivartan Chowk, protests were being reported from different districts. Protests in Varanasi, Ghazipur, Ballia, and Azamgarh have also been reported.Most of the political observers agree that the student protests have energised the youth across the country and SP’s active participation in the agitation has set the tone for the party’s poll campaign for 2027 polls. “Even if the Centre accepts the demands of the CJP and subsequently the agitation is called off, it has unruffled the youth across the spectrum in a manner very different from anything in the past,” a senior journalist said, adding that the frenzy generated at such agitations often ends up with political overtones.
