Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 26 (ANI): Launching a blistering attack on Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief and Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar on Monday asserted that the former Chief Minister’s “imaginary strongholds” are collapsing and claimed the “sham” of his PDA formula would soon be exposed.
In a post on X, Rajbhar declared that the SP’s political influence is on the wane, stating that after Kannauj, the “bugle of farewell” will now be sounded in Azamgarh.
https://x.com/oprajbhar/status/2114580402048516337
“Akhilesh Yadav ji, your ‘imaginary strongholds’ are crumbling one after another. After Kannauj, now in Azamgarh too, the bugle of your farewell is about to sound. The sham you’ve spread in the name of PDA—get ready to witness its utter destruction with your own eyes,” Rajbhar said.
Announcing a major political show of strength, the SBSP chief said his party would hold a grand ‘Social Harmony Rally’ (Samajik Samrasta Rally) at the ITI Ground in Azamgarh on November 29, which he claimed would demonstrate the collective power of non-Yadav Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Dalits.
“On November 29, in Azamgarh, seeing the true strength of non-Yadav backward castes and Bahujans will sober you up completely from your delusion. Have the video recording made of the grand Social Harmony Rally of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party at the ITI ground in Azamgarh, and see for yourself how your fortress has collapsed,” he said.
Challenging Yadav’s PDA plank—an acronym coined by the SP chief representing Pichhda (backward classes), Dalit, and Alpsankhyak (minorities)—Rajbhar accused the Samajwadi Party of using marginalised communities merely as an election-time vote bank.
“The conch shell of unity among the Dalits, backward castes, and especially the non-Yadav backward society of Purvanchal is about to be blown. You roam around claiming Azamgarh as your stronghold; in that very stronghold, for the first time, the Bahujan society is going to raise its real voice,” Rajbhar remarked.
“You chant the slogan of PDA, don’t you… So this time, count them properly. The time has come and gone for remembering Rajbhar, Nishad, Chauhan, Prajapati, Patel, Pal, and the rest of the non-Yadav backwards only during elections, my friend,” the SBSP leader added.
Earlier on October 25, a massive new political poster displayed outside the Samajwadi Party (SP) headquarters in Lucknow depicting party president Akhilesh Yadav aboard a boat has escalated the ongoing “poster war” between the SP and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The high-visibility poster directly targets Uttar Pradesh’s electoral arithmetic ahead of the 2027 UP Assembly elections, emphasising an expanded coalition of upper-caste Brahmins, riverine communities (Kevats/Nishads), and the party’s core PDA (Pichhde–Backwards, Dalit, Alpsankhyak–Minorities) base.
The poster prominently reads, “ब्राह्मण दिखाएंगे राह, केवट लगाएंगे पार, मिलकर बनाएंगे पीडीए सरकार”. (Brahmins will show the way, Kevats (boatmen) will ferry us across, and together we will form a ‘PDA’ government.)
The imagery carries cultural and mythological undertones from Hindu mythology, the Ramayana, referencing the Ramayana episode where Kevat, the boatman, safely ferries Lord Rama and Lakshmana across the Ganga.
By showing Akhilesh Yadav on a boat flanked by symbolic Brahmin guides and Kevat boatmen, the Samajwadi Party appears to be making a calculated outreach on two fronts. First, it is eyeing the Brahmin vote, broadening the ‘P’ in its PDA formula to mean “Pandit” or “Peedit Pandit” (aggrieved Brahmins), in a bid to tap into alleged discontent within the upper-caste community against the current dispensation.
Second, the party is reaching out to the Nishad and Kevat communities — the non-Yadav OBC riverine voters, including Kevats, Mallahs and Nishads who hold decisive influence in several constituencies along the Ganga belt.
The strategic outreach is seen as an attempt to make inroads into key demographics that have predominantly backed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in past elections across the state.
Buoyed by its performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where the SP emerged as the single-largest party in Uttar Pradesh by securing 37 seats, the party has been steadily stepping up its grassroots messaging to consolidate an expanded social umbrella ahead of the upcoming assembly by-polls and the 2027 state elections. (ANI)
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