With the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election just months away, the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party is stepping up its campaign with a statewide outreach programme, with the PDA — Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak — formula at the heart of its strategy.
The party is all set to take out ‘Samajwadi PDA Yatra’, beginning from October, and will focus on the party’s core electoral formula throughout the statewide campaign.
A customised campaign bus for the proposed yatra arrived at the SP headquarters in Lucknow on Wednesday. The SP is yet to finalise the dates, route and detailed schedule of the yatra.
Yadav is expected to travel across Uttar Pradesh in the 15-metre-long, multi-axle bus, which is equipped with bulletproof glass and a hydraulic lift to the roof, allowing him to address crowds.
The bus has space for meetings involving up to six people, along with a living area featuring a sofa-cum-bed, a kitchen and pantry, a washroom, CCTV cameras, exterior LED screens, Wi-Fi connectivity and air-conditioning. It has been refurbished and upgraded at an estimated cost of Rs 2-5 crore.
The red-coloured bus arrived at the SP headquarters with a new design and ‘Samajwadi PDA Yatra’ written on its sides.
The left side carries a picture of Akhilesh Yadav alongside the slogan — Samajik Nyay Ka Parcham Lehrayega, PDA hi Parivartan Layega (The flag of social justice will fly high; PDA will bring change).
The right side carries a picture of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav with the slogan — PDA Samajik Andolan Hai, Samajik Nyay Ka Sangharsh Hai (PDA is a social movement; it is a struggle for social justice).
The words Pichhda, Dalit and Alpsankhyak are also displayed on the bus, along with pictures of leaders including BR Ambedkar, Janeshwar Mishra, Ram Manohar Lohia and Beni Prasad Verma.
Akhilesh Yadav used the same bus during his campaigns in 2016-17 and 2021.
PDA FORMULA AND 2024 LOK SABHA RESULTS
The PDA formula became a central feature of the SP’s campaign during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The party won 37 of Uttar Pradesh’s 80 Lok Sabha seats, its best performance in the state during the 2024 national polls.
The BJP’s tally in Uttar Pradesh fell from 62 seats in 2019 to 33 in 2024, while the Congress, the SP’s ally, increased its tally from one to six seats.
The 2024 results also saw the BJP fall below the majority mark in the Lok Sabha for the first time since 2014.
The SP-Congress alliance was ahead in 224 of UP’s 403 Assembly segments in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The BJP polled around 3.83 crore votes in the state against around 3.81 crore votes for the SP.
In the 2022 Assembly election, the BJP polled 41.3 per cent of the vote, while the SP secured 32.1 per cent. The BJP won 255 Assembly seats and the SP 111.
The SP’s vote share has increased since its low point in the 2017 Assembly election. In 2024, the party expanded its traditional support among Muslims and Yadavs by attempting to bring groups including Kurmis, Pals and Dalits into the PDA coalition.
The SP coined the PDA formulation in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, with Yadav initially using it to refer to Pichhde, Dalits and Alpsankhyaks. The party has since expanded the formulation to include other social groups, including Adivasis, forward castes and women.
The SP leadership subsequently broadened the meaning of the acronym, with the A also being described as Adhi Abadi (women).
BJP ATTACKS PDA FORMULA
The PDA formula has also become a recurring point of attack for the BJP, which has sought to give the acronym alternative meanings.
BJP leaders have repeatedly offered alternative interpretations of PDA. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had in 2024 described it as “Production House of Dangai and Apradhi”, alleging that the SP was associated with rioters and criminals.
More recently, the BJP’s Uttar Pradesh in-charge, Vinod Tawde, said PDA stood for “Paraya, Dhan, Apna”, rather than the SP’s definition.
This has fed into a broader BJP argument that the SP keeps changing the definition of PDA to accommodate different voter groups.
The BJP criticism comes against the backdrop of Akhilesh Yadav himself expanding the formulation. In August, while addressing a Brahmin gathering, Yadav said the P in PDA could also stand for Pandit, signalling the SP’s outreach to Brahmins.
Yadav has also used PDA in broader terms beyond its caste-community formulation. Earlier this month, he described PDA as an “alliance of progressive and positive people” and said people who were pidhit (harassed), dukhi (sad) and apmaanit (humiliated) should come together under the PDA banner.
SP SEEKS TO BUILD ON 2024 GAINS
After the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the SP intensified its PDA campaign, with Yadav describing the 2027 election as a contest between the BJP and PDA.
The party is now seeking to convert its 2024 electoral gains into a broader statewide organisation ahead of the Assembly polls.
The SP has already begun booth-level preparations, asking its booth-level agents to add five voters to every booth. The strategy is based on the party’s analysis that the SP-Congress alliance led in 224 of the state’s 403 Assembly segments in 2024. Uttar Pradesh has around 1.77 lakh polling booths.
The proposed PDA Yatra will give the SP a vehicle to take its central electoral message directly to voters months before the 2027 Assembly election, while putting its social-justice plank and expanded PDA coalition at the centre of its campaign.
– Ends
Published On:
Sep 18, 2026 09:46 IST
