Lucknow, Sep 24 (PTI) Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday boarded a specially designed “PDA Rath”, his mount of choice to bounce back from the two successive electoral reverses he has faced at the hands of the BJP, for a visit to Raebareli.
As part of his campaign for the 2027 UP Assembly polls, Yadav is set to traverse the nooks and corners of the state on the “PDA Rath” to connect with the politically influential voters of “Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak (PDA)”—the social coalition that has become a central plank of the SP’s strategy.
The SP is yet to announce a detailed itinerary for a formal launch of Yadav’s PDA Rath Yatra, but the BJP wasted little time in taking potshots at Yadav for his visit to Raebareli, a Congress bastion with Rahul Gandhi as its sitting MP, claiming the SP attempts to demonstrate the party’s strength in a Congress stronghold.
The SP and Congress’s impressive showing in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls came on the back of a tie-up between the two, and all eyes would be on whether they can settle on a seat-sharing agreement for the assembly polls.
The party’s official line was that Yadav’s Raebareli visit was to meet Harchandpur MLA Rahul Lodhi, who had alleged that he, some SP workers and local leaders were manhandled by police, following the September 17 clash involving Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members.
“The SP chief was visiting Raebareli to have tea with the party MLA and to express solidarity with him,” said SP spokesperson Sunil Singh Sajan ahead of Yadav’s visit.
He alleged that “goons” had infiltrated a SP youth wing event, leading to police action in which Lodhi and other party cadres were injured.
Police had denied the allegations and said a magisterial inquiry into police action had subsequently been ordered.
Yadav slammed the police for its “casteist approach” and announced plans to visit Lodhi at his residence as a gesture of solidarity. Lodhis are classified as OBCs, a component of the party’s social coalition of PDA.
The specially designed “PDA Rath” is being rolled out for the first time ahead of the polls, making it the highlight of Yadav’s Raebareli visit.
The motorised multi-coloured chariot is replete with political symbolism.
The vehicle carries slogans—”Samajwadi PDA Yatra” and “PDA hi parivartan layega” (PDA will bring change)—and mentions the definition of PDA. Portraits of several prominent personalities, including many Dalit leaders that SP appears to have co-opted from BSP, are also on the vehicle.
“Jo peedit, wo PDA” (all oppressed are PDAs), another slogan, is written in blue, a colour traditionally associated with the Bahujan and Ambedkarite movements and the BSP.
The SP recently introduced blue T-shirts and jeans as the new dress code for its student wing, with Yadav linking the colour to Ambedkar, democracy, the Constitution and resistance to injustice. BSP chief Mayawati criticised the SP’s use of blue colour in its political messaging and questioned its efforts to woo the PDA.
The “PDA Rath”, which is driven by a turbaned Sikh driver, also carries the message “Samajik nyay ka parcham laharayega, PDA hi parivartan layega” (the flag of social justice will fly, PDA will bring change).
Yadav has in the past used different expansions of the PDA acronym, including references to Pandits and Adivasis, while the SP has primarily projected it as “Pichhda, Dalit and Alpsankhyak” in its current political messaging. Mayawati and BJP have criticised the party over these varying formulations.
The choice of Raebareli gives the visit an additional political significance as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is the sitting MP.
Raebareli’s local political landscape also includes BJP leaders with previous links to the Congress and SP.
Gandhi won his seat by defeating BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh, a former Congressman, who is now quite vocal in targeting him. BJP leader and minister Manoj Kumar Pandey was earlier with the SP. Raebareli Sadar MLA Aditi Singh, who was earlier with the Congress, is also now with the BJP.
A poster battle also began ahead of Yadav’s arrival in Raebareli. Some said “Akhilesh Yadav wapas jao” while others portrayed the SP chief as Lord Krishna. Posters around the GIC ground also projected him as a champion of the PDA and called for the SP’s return to power in 2027.
Another poster compared Yadav to a chameleon, while one questioned him over not paying tribute to former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh after his death.
BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi claimed Yadav deliberately chose Raebareli for his visit, describing the move as part of “the ongoing tussle” within the SP-Congress alliance.
Referring to recent statements by Congress leader Imran Masood and SP’s Iqra Hasan, he said that Yadav’s choice was intended to show that the SP could demonstrate its political strength in the constituency and question the Congress’s standing there.
He suggested that Congress should also launch its poll campaign from Mainpuri and Etawah, considered SP strongholds.
Tripathi also said SP workers travelling from Lucknow to Raebareli would see the “wide and good roads” and the development work carried out by the Yogi Adityanath government.
Meanwhile, BJP ally SBSP chief and UP minister Om Prakash Rajbhar said that Yadav’s PDA campaign in Raebareli was to signal “goons” to create unrest.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the SP-Congress alliance put up a strong show — SP won 37 Lok Sabha seats in UP and Congress 6. The alliance won a hugely impressive 43 seats, limiting the BJP to 33 seats in the most populous state in the country.
This included the SP win from Faizabad Lok Sabha seat, of which Ayodhya is a part.
Despite BJP’s win in a series of bypolls held since, including the Milkipur assembly seat, which is part of the Faizabad Lok Sabha, the poll narrative has mostly focused on whether the two parties can reach a seat-sharing agreement for the crucial UP polls due next year. PTI MAN KIS SKY
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