‘PDA’ the ‘real hero’ in SP’s success story

Of the 37 SP wins, 21 winners were OBCs (including 5 Yadavs), seven Dalits, four Muslims, and five upper caste candidates. Even within OBCs, while distributing tickets, the SP gave tickets to Kurmi-Patel, Kushwaha-Shakya-Saini, Nishad, Yadav, Jat, Gurjar, Rajbhar, Pal, and Lodh candidates

LUCKNOW The ‘PDA’ strategy emerged as the ‘real hero’ in the Samajwadi Party’s unprecedented success in UP with its best-ever performance in the Lok Sabha elections, bagging 37 of the 80 seats here and emerging as the single-largest party in the state.

While the SP implemented the ‘Picchhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak’ (PDA) strategy in its ticket distribution for 2024 polls, a closer look at the party’s victory tally indicates that the ‘PDA’ was distributed somewhat proportionately in the list of 37 of its victories. (File Photo)

After the INDIA bloc’s first meeting in New Delhi post-2024 election results on Wednesday, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav wrote on X: “The INDIA bloc will stay together...” He added: “The INDIA bloc will endeavour to expand the ‘PDA’ and struggle for them.”

While the SP implemented the ‘Picchhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak’ (PDA) strategy in its ticket distribution for 2024 polls, a closer look at the party’s victory tally indicates that the ‘PDA’ was distributed somewhat proportionately in the list of 37 of its victories.

Of the 37 SP wins, 21 winners were OBCs (including 5 Yadavs), seven Dalits, four Muslims, and five upper caste candidates. Even within OBCs, while distributing tickets, the SP gave tickets to Kurmi-Patel, Kushwaha-Shakya-Saini, Nishad, Yadav, Jat, Gurjar, Rajbhar, Pal, and Lodh candidates. Among the upper castes, SP gave tickets to Brahmin, Thakur, Vaish, Khatri, Bhumihar candidates and among the Dalits to Pasi, Jatav, and Valmiki candidates.

Akhilesh Yadav coined the term ‘PDA’ a few months after the 2022 UP assembly polls, and it became a buzzword in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere.

In the 2022 polls, SP began expanding beyond its M-Y (Muslim-Yadav) vote bank to stitch together a caste coalition of non-Yadav OBCs, Yadavs, Dalits and Muslims.

Retaining this formula for the 2024 elections, Yadav named it ‘PDA’ -- Pichhada (backwards including Yadavs and non-Yadavs), Dalits and Alpsankhyaks (minorities, largely Muslims).

Bolstering it with the caste census demand, he launched a PDA-caste census bus yatra across the state in June.

“Samajik Nyay Jaatiya Janganana Rasta (caste census is the path to social justice)” was boldly printed on all sides of the red bus that Yadav rode across the state.

He galvanised the party’s agenda, campaign, and even the re-organisation and ticket distribution plan around PDA and caste census, playing the caste card as a counter to the BJP’s Hindutva and Ram Mandir. By the time, INDIA bloc pact was finalised and the Congress also took up the caste census demand, which added to the SP’s PDA agenda.

Under the SP-Congress pact, the SP got 63 seats and the Congress 17. The SP contested 62 seats as it gave one from its share to the TMC (Bhadohi). Of the 62 seats, SP gave tickets to OBCs on 32 seats (including five Yadavs), 15 to Dalits, four to Muslims, and 11 to Hindu upper caste candidates.