Lucknow, May 6 (IANS): Buoyed up by its success in its maiden electoral debut, the Azad Samaj Party led by Chandra Shekhar, the president of Bhim Army, is now gearing up for the 2022 assembly elections.

"In Muzaffarnagar, Azad Samaj Party has won in seven out of 43 wards. We have also won seats in Saharanpur, Bijnor, Kanpur, Etawah, Fatehpur, Kannauj, Gorakhpur, Balrampur, Basti, Azamgarh, Sultanpur, Unnao, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Ambedkar Nagar, Aligarh, among other districts. This shows people are supporting our candidates," Chandra Shekhar told reporters.

The Bhim Army chief also claimed that over 100 candidates, supported by his party, had won the gram Pradhan seats.

He said that his party would have won more seats if the district administrations had acted in a fair manner.

He has asked all the winners to immediately start preparing for the assembly elections.

"Through the panchayat elections, we were testing our strength and we are now confident of putting up a good show in the upcoming assembly elections," he said.

Chandra Shekhar said that in the coming months, he would focus on further strengthening his party organization and selection of candidates.

Talking about his frequent clashes with the police, he said, "I am a man who receives gifts from the police all the time. I was even booked under the National Security Act. So, we are not afraid of police cases. The government will again slap a case on me or my party workers, but we will not step back."