SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said the party had an organisational set-up in the erstwhile state. adding: “The decision to contest the Assembly polls is part of our exercise to expand the organisation.”

After the Election Commission rejected the nominations of five candidates, no SP candidate is in the fray in the first phase of the polls. In the second phase, SP candidates are contesting on different symbols picked from the free symbol list of the EC, while in the third, they will all contest on the “laptop” symbol.

Party candidates admit that the lack of the traditional symbol is hampering their chances. “All party paraphernalia has a cycle printed on it, but my symbol is ‘laptop’. This is creating confusion. Hence, I got stickers with the ‘laptop’ symbol printed and we are going door-to-door to clear the confusion,” the SP candidate from Baramulla, Manzoor Ahmed, said.

Mehrajuddin Ahmad, the SP candidate from Eidgah, who is contesting on the “computer” symbol, is using Akhilesh’s pictures to tackle the challenge. “He (Akhilesh) is popular here but people recognise the SP by its traditional symbol. I am using photos of Akhilesh and (patriarch) Mulayam Singh Yadav on publicity materials to convince voters that voting for the ‘computer’ would mean voting for the SP,” he said.

The SP had contested the last Assembly polls in J&K too, held in 2014, but drawn a blank, the same as in 2008 when it had fielded 36 candidates in the erstwhile state.