Akhilesh redraws ‘PDA’ to woo upper castes; rhetoric may not be enough, say political analysts

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav’s move to expand his ‘PDA’ (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) plank to include Brahmins and Baniyas is being viewed by analysts as an attempt to fracture the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s core base ahead of the Assembly election. 

However, they caution that the SP’s improved tally in the Legislative Council polls, where it won five of the 11 seats with the BJP bagging the remaining, may not automatically translate into broader electoral gains without a concrete policy road map.

“Brahmin and Baniya communities are core BJP supporters. By claiming injustice to them, the SP is projecting itself as a flagbearer of people and social groups across sections of society and creating a divide in the BJP’s social base,” said Asad Rizvi, a Lucknow-based political analyst. 

Political commentator Umakant Tripathi noted that Council polls are often used by specific communities to signal resentment and that sustained campaigning is required to convert any advantage from the MLC polls into gains in the Assembly election. 

Himanshu Singh, an independent analyst, added that the SP must move beyond rhetoric and outline specific demands, such as a Brahmin Welfare Board, to capitalise on the sentiment.

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow on October 30, the SP chief said, “The BJP has victimised, oppressed, and humiliated every community, so all the oppressed have come together.” 

‘95% with us’

“The PDA support base has now reached 95%, thanks to the Brahmin, business and Kayastha communities voting for us. For the BJP, politics, not community, is paramount. They’ve resorted to every tactic to defeat their traditional voting communities. The BJP is no one’s ally,” added the former Chief Minister.

The ‘PD’ in PDA stands for ‘Pandit’ while ‘A’ stands for Agarwals, the trader community, he said.

Mr. Yadav claimed that the Brahmin community is witnessing “systemic harassment” at the ruling coalition’s hands and cited the defeat of his party’s upper-caste candidate, Sanjayan Tripathi, from the Gorakhpur Graduates’ seat, alleging that “corrupt BJP members and complicit officials” had conspired to defeat the SP nominee. 

He was defeated not merely because he was the SP candidate, but because “Haata nahi bhaata [Haata isn’t favoured]”, the senior Opposition leader said.

Explaining the phrase, SP spokesperson Sunil Singh Yadav ‘Sajan’ said, “It is well-known that Haata refers to the late Hari Shankar Tiwari, a senior Brahmin leader from Gorakhpur who was at odds with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.” 

Akash Agarwal, the SP candidate from the Agra Teachers MLC seat, highlighted his community roots during his campaign while alleging harassment under the Adityanath dispensation. “I am being harassed for being an Agarwal. I cannot continue living in such a Sanatana society. I will embrace Islam or Buddhism,” said Mr. Agarwal, who went on to win the seat. 

Aside from claiming caste divisions, Mr. Yadav has also tried to portray the CM as someone who prioritises his home turf of Gorakhpur over the party’s prospects elsewhere, including Varanasi, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is serving his third consecutive term as a Lok Sabha member and where the BJP lost both MLC seats.

BJP’s ‘united front’

The BJP moved swiftly to project a united front. On October 30, senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed the BJP’s State executive meeting and played down reports of internal friction. 

He urged party workers to “throw disappointment and resentment into the Gomti river” and work with dedication to form the BJP government while praising the development under Mr. Adityanath’s leadership.

Speaking about the SP’s outreach to upper caste communities, Mr. Himanshu Singh said, “The SP hasn’t spoken about the much-demanded ‘Brahmin Welfare Board’. Similarly for the business community, it needs to come up with schemes to address the traders’ concerns. Council polls can be used as an opening to make inroads among these sections, but only a clear framework will help capitalise on the sentiment.”