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Uttar Pradesh: SP plans events in BJP bastions to expand PDA base before 2027
Akhilesh Yadav plans to expand the Samajwadi Party's coalition into BJP strongholds with events in Agra and Gorakhpur ahead of the 2027 UP elections.
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Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has drawn up an ambitious plan to expand the party’s PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) social coalition deep into traditional Bharatiya Janata Party strongholds ahead of the 2027 UP assembly elections.
The strategy centres on two high-profile events, according to a senior Samajwadi Party leader not willing to be named: A Dalit conference in Agra and a two-day training campaign in Gorakhpur in November. Both locations carry strong political symbolism and significant social arithmetic.
In Agra, the SP has tasked party’s national general secretary Ramji Lal Suman with organising the western Uttar Pradesh Dalit conference. Agra and adjoining districts have a substantial Scheduled Caste population—roughly 22% in Agra alone according to the 2011 Census—with the Jatav community forming a decisive voting bloc.
The region has long been associated with Ambedkarite politics and was once a reliable base for the Bahujan Samaj Party. However, in the 2022 assembly elections, the BJP won all nine assembly seats in the district.
Samajwadi Party strategists see the Agra event as an opportunity to attract Dalit voters, particularly Jatavs, who influence electoral outcomes across Mathura, Etawah, Hathras, Mainpuri and Firozabad as well. This could further broaden the PDA base for the Samajwadi Party just before the crucial UP assembly elections.
The second leg of the plan takes the party to Gorakhpur. The SP intends to hold its two-day training camp there around Diwali. In the last assembly elections, the BJP and its allies dominated the Gorakhpur division, winning 27 of the 28 seats.
By holding a high-visibility event in the region, Akhilesh Yadav aims to send a direct political message while attempting to broaden the PDA umbrella beyond its traditional Yadav-Muslim core.
“In eastern UP, the party is already focussing on communities that form part of the BJP’s wider social base, including Nishads, Kurmis and Brahmins,” the senior SP leader said. Local discontent within sections of the Nishad community, currently aligned with the BJP through its ally, and outreach to Brahmins drawing on older political networks in the region are potential openings.
The twin proposed events reflect the SP’s post-2024 Lok Sabha approach: Consolidate the PDA formula that delivered in the parliamentary polls and systematically contest the BJP in its bastions rather than remaining confined to traditional strongholds.
Whether the strategy translates into organisational strength and vote transfers will become clearer as the party moves from planning to ground-level execution in the coming months.
