Akhilesh’s anti-BJP formula for UP: PDA, Muslim-Yadav votes and Gen Z

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav addresses a press conference at the party headquarters in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. He defended the right to peaceful demonstrations and questioned why people in civilian clothes who allegedly attacked protesters during a demonstration in Delhi had not been arrested.

NEW DELHI: With the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections on the horizon, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav is looking to expand his party’s anti-BJP coalition. His game plan for the UP elections includes bringing together backward classes, Dalits, minorities, its traditional Muslim-Yadav vote base and discontented young voters. On Friday, Yadav said the combination of PDA, Muslim-Yadav votes and growing anger among Gen Z would ensure the BJP’s defeat in the state. “If the Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) votes are intact and the PDA is brought together, with the anger growing among Gen Z, the BJP's wipeout is certain,” he said. PDA stands for “Picchda, Dalit, Alpasankhyak”, meaning backward classes, Dalits and minorities. The SP leader coined the term to expand the party’s social base and present a broader political alternative to the BJP. Over the past few years, Akhilesh has largely avoided foregrounding the M-Y formula in his public messaging, focusing instead on the PDA coalition. The BJP has repeatedly targeted the Samajwadi Party’s Muslim-Yadav support base. During the 2022 assembly election campaign, BJP leaders recast M-Y as “Modi-Yogi”, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. The party also used the acronym to mean “Mahila” (women) and “Yuva” (youth).

Akhilesh backs peaceful protests

Commenting on recent protests against the Election Commission, Akhilesh Yadav defended the right to peaceful demonstrations and questioned why people in civilian clothes who allegedly attacked protesters during a demonstration in Delhi had not been arrested. “In a democracy, people have the right to march, stage a sit-in and peacefully express their views,” he said. “From what we are seeing and hearing, and from what the pictures indicate, the BJP has not arrested them because they are associated with the same ideology,” he alleged. Drawing a comparison with Nazi Germany, Yadav accused the BJP of using political workers against ordinary people. “This is what Hitler used to do. During Hitler's time, political workers were dressed in police uniforms, while others in civilian clothes also took action against the public. They have learnt this from Hitler,” he said.

He also blamed the BJP for the problems faced by public institutions. “The BJP is the crisis. Remove the crisis, and then your institutions will improve.”

Akhilesh attacks Centre’s foreign policy

Akhilesh also criticised the BJP-led Centre’s foreign policy amid the conflict involving Iran, the US and Israel. He accused the government of failing to protect Indian citizens working abroad. “I have not seen a government so weak on its foreign policy,” he said. Taking a swipe at the BJP’s claims of making India a Vishwaguru, Yadav invoked the principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. He said such claims rang hollow if the government could not protect the lives of Indians living and working overseas.