‘PDA’ politics at play—Why Akhilesh expelled only three of eight ‘rebel’ SP MLAs

Action against Abhay Singh, Rakesh Pratap Singh & Manoj Pandey comes over a yr after they & others cross-voted in RS polls. Party monitoring actions of all rebel leaders, spokesperson says.

Expelled SP legislators Manoj Pandey, Rakesh Pratap Singh & Abhay Singh | Credit: Facebook

Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party (SP) Monday expelled three MLAs for alleged anti-party conduct, accusing them of violating the party’s core principles and promoting divisive politics.

The action against Abhay Singh (Gosaiganj), Rakesh Pratap Singh (Gauriganj), and Manoj Pandey (Unchahar) comes nearly 16 months after a group of Samajwadi Party MLAs revolted during the Rajya Sabha elections.

In February 2024, the trio along with MLAs Rakesh Pandey, Vinod Chaturvedi, Pooja Pal, Ashutosh Maurya voted in favour of the BJP and NDA-backed candidates. They were also photographed on the UP Assembly premises with BJP candidate Sanjay Seth and other senior BJP leaders. Another legislator Maharaji Prajapati—the wife of SP leader Gayatri Prajapati—had abstained from voting.

What has caught the attention of political observers is the caste of the three expelled MLAs as none of them are from the PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) sections. The Print has learnt that the Samajwadi Party’s decision to expel only three out of the eight rebel MLAs is a part of its broader political strategy.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav coined the term ‘PDA’ during the 2022 Uttar Pradesh polls for ‘pichhda’ (backwards), Dalits and ‘alpsankhyak’ (minorities). In fact, this strategy had halved the BJP’s Lok Sabha tally in Uttar Pradesh to bring it down to 33 seats and led to the SP’s emergence as the single largest party with 37 seats.

According to a senior SP functionary, the decision to expel Manoj Pandey, Abhay Singh, and Rakesh Pratap Singh was based on three key reasons. “First, these three (leaders) consistently made statements that went against the party line, especially targeting our PDA narrative. Second, our internal inquiry revealed that they not only cross-voted during the Rajya Sabha elections but also actively tried to influence other MLAs to do the same,” the functionary said.

Third, and most importantly, the action was taken as the trio was considered close to Akhilesh.

“Their betrayal has deeply hurt the leadership. Manoj Pandey, in particular, held the crucial position of chief whip in the Assembly, yet he chose to go against the party—something that has left the top leadership feeling deeply let down. Both Abhay Singh and Rakesh Pratap Singh were also in the good books of the top leadership. But either due to pressure from the government or maybe the caste factor as the Thakurs are aligning with Yogi Adityanath, they rebelled.” the functionary explained

Three of the remaining MLAs( Maurya, Pal and Prajapati) are OBCs and the party was not inclined to take any action against them, the SP insider said, adding that Vinod Chaturvedi and Rakesh Pandey were “under observation”.

The duo would face similar action if they would speak anything against the party leadership, the functionary asserted.

समाजवादी सौहार्दपूर्ण सकारात्मक विचारधारा की राजनीति के विपरीत साम्प्रदायिक विभाजनकारी नकारात्मकता व किसान, महिला, युवा, कारोबारी, नौकरीपेशा और ‘पीडीए विरोधी’ विचारधारा का साथ देने के कारण, समाजवादी पार्टी जनहित में निम्नांकित विधायकों को पार्टी से निष्कासित करती है:

1. मा.…

— Samajwadi Party (@samajwadiparty) June 23, 2025

The action, according to the SP’s official statement, against the trio was taken due to their conduct against party discipline and their support for policies considered harmful to various sections of society, particularly to PDA (Pichhda, Dalit and Alpsankhyak).

There will be no place in the party for ‘anti-people’ people and activities contrary to the basic idea of the party will always be considered unforgivable in future, it asserted.

Later, MLA Manoj Pandey told the media that he had officially joined the BJP on 18 June, 2024, in Raebareli in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah. “So, whether the Samajwadi Party expels me or not makes no difference. India is a nation rooted in Sanatana Dharma, and we cannot remain in a party where activities repeatedly go against those values. That is why we chose to part ways,” he contended.

The party is closely monitoring the actions of all rebel leaders, SP spokesperson Udaiveer Singh told ThePrint.

“We all know who have cross-voted and are involved in anti-party activities. At an appropriate time, we will make necessary decisions. For now, we have found three MLAs guilty of more serious violations, and action has been taken against them accordingly,” Singh added.

(Edited by Tony Rai)