The Samajwadi Party (SP) is set to hold a Dalit Sammelan in Agra on November 15 as part of its outreach to the community ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. SP president Akhilesh Yadav will address the meeting at GIC ground in Agra, which is expected to be attended by party MPs and MLAs from western UP.
On choosing Agra as the venue for the programme, Rajya Sabha member and senior SP leader Ramji Lal Suman said it was an important centre of Dalit consciousness, adding that Dr BR Ambedkar had visited the city towards the end of his life. “Many consider Agra the capital of Dalit politics, making it a suitable venue for the party’s Dalit Sammelan,” he said.
Suman said SP leaders were visiting different districts of western UP to mobilise people for the November 15 meeting. He claimed Dalit voters were increasingly moving away from the BSP because of its alleged understanding with the BJP and looking towards the SP.
“When the BSP formed a government on its own in Uttar Pradesh in 2007, it secured a 30% vote share. This fell to 9% in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Dalits are realising that it is the SP, and not the BSP, which can take on the BJP,” Suman said.
The SP leader also said the forthcoming assembly elections would see caste equations take a new shape, claiming that people across communities were dissatisfied with the BJP.
{{/usCountry}}The SP leader also said the forthcoming assembly elections would see caste equations take a new shape, claiming that people across communities were dissatisfied with the BJP.
{{/usCountry}}The Dalit Sammelan comes a week before a public meeting by BSP national coordinator Akash Anand scheduled for November 22 at Etmadpur in Agra.
The SP’s outreach assumes significance in Agra, where the BSP won six of the district’s nine assembly seats in both 2007 and 2012, while the BJP swept all nine in 2017 and 2022. The SP last won the Etmadpur seat in 1993, while its candidate Raja Aridaman Singh won the Bah seat in 2012.
The party’s PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) formulation also places Dalits at the centre of its social outreach strategy.