Lucknow: As the political landscape in Uttar Pradesh begins to warm up for the 2027 assembly elections, the Samajwadi Party (SP) is doubling down on its successful ‘PDA’ strategy. A 15-metre-long luxury red bus, boldly adorned with the slogan ‘Samajwadi PDA Yatra’, recently rolled into the party headquarters in Lucknow, signalling the imminent launch of party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s mass electoral campaign.
The customised rath features images of 18 eminent historical figures, including Dr BR Ambedkar and Ram Manohar Lohia, alongside portraits of Akhilesh and Mulayam Singh Yadav. Prominently displayed is the core message of the campaign: ‘Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak-Muslim’ (Backward, Dalit, Minority-Muslim).
Coined by Akhilesh Yadav in 2023, the PDA formula aims to expand the SP’s traditional Muslim-Yadav vote bank by actively courting backward classes and Dalits. The strategy specifically seeks to dismantle the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) formidable alliance of upper castes and non-Yadav Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
The political potency of the PDA formula was evident in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Bouncing back from a relatively poor showing in the 2022 assembly polls, where the SP managed only 111 out of 403 seats, the party clinched an impressive 37 out of 80 parliamentary seats in UP. Significantly, the total vote gap between the SP and BJP narrowed to a mere 1.4 lakh votes statewide, proving that the inclusion of Kurmi, Pal, and Dalit voters into the SP fold was highly effective.
Looking ahead to 2027, the party is reportedly pivoting to ‘PDA 2.0’. With Dalits constituting about 21 per cent of the state’s population and influencing electoral outcomes in over 120 constituencies, the SP plans to field more than 100 Dalit candidates, even on unreserved seats. This move is designed to win back the community’s trust, considering a majority of the reserved seats were swept by the BJP-led alliance in 2022.
Unsurprisingly, the PDA formula has drawn sharp criticism and creative redefinitions from political rivals. Uttar Pradesh BJP President Pankaj Chaudhary dubbed it “Peeda, Daman and Apradh” (Pain, Suppression and Crime). Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati accused the SP of changing colours like a chameleon for electoral gains, claiming the ‘P’ in PDA actually stands for ‘Pandit’. Meanwhile, former BSP leader Akash Anand termed it a “Public Darao Abhiyan” (Scare the Public Campaign), and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar mockingly called it the “Peet Dega Ashfaq gang”.
While a February 2024 survey suggested that only a fraction of Dalits and minorities fully trust the PDA narrative yet, Akhilesh Yadav’s luxury rath is now fully prepped to take his message directly to the grassroots.