'Damdar Dalit': Akhilesh Yadav gives new spin to Samajwadi Party's PDA coinage

He said the 'D' in the party's 'PDA' coinage, which stands for 'pichhda' (backward classes), Dalit, and alpsankhyak (minorities) -- now stands for Damdar Dalit.

The Dalit has now become 'damdar (assertive)', Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Sunday as he attributed a new meaning to the party's 'PDA' formulation during his address at a 'Dalit Sammelan' here, and described the gathering as the beginning of a broader movement for the upliftment of marginalised communities.

Yadav claimed the BJP is conspiring against the 'PDA' after its electoral defeat in the recent bypolls. (HT_PRINT)

Taking a swipe at the BJP, he said those who have considered Agra their stronghold would soon lose their foothold. "This time, the Dalit community will defeat the BJP; wipe them out for good," he asserted.

Thanking party MP Ramji Lal Suman and other leaders for organising the event, Yadav said the 'D' in the party's 'PDA' coinage -- which stands for 'pichhda' (backward classes), Dalit, and alpsankhyak (minorities) -- now represents "Damdar Dalit".

"Looking at the support of the Dalit community, I can say that the 'D' in our 'PDA', has now become 'Damdar Dalit'," he said.

Yadav claimed the BJP is conspiring against the 'PDA' after its electoral defeat in the recent bypolls.

He further alleged that around 200 statues of Dr B R Ambedkar had been vandalised in the state over the past decade. "No action has been taken against those responsible."

Yadav said the Samajwadi Party has published a newsletter documenting such incidents of vandalism, including details of where they took place and those allegedly responsible.

"Those who vandalise Dr Ambedkar's statues do not merely attack the sculpture. They attack the Constitution held in Babasaheb's hand," he said.

"If there is a Constitution, there is dignity. If there is a Constitution, there are rights. If there is a Constitution, there is democracy. And it is democracy that keeps the Constitution alive," he asserted, alleging the BJP's allegiance to "Man Vidhan (anarchy)" instead of the 'Samvidhan' (Constitution).

Yadav claimed that the massive turnout at the event reflected growing support for the party's political campaign.

He also questioned the claims of the "double-engine" government. "Those who used to talk about double-engine government have been handed a double zero in Kashi," he said, referring to the loss of the BJP candidate from Varanasi in the recent legislative council election.

Taking a swipe at Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent remarks likening the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh to "Angad ka paon (Angad's foot)", an idiom for immovable, Yadav said the ruling party would soon lose its "footing".

"Those who are saying that this government is 'Angad ka paon' will lose their footing. When there is no ground left, where will they place 'Angad ka paon'?" he said.

In an apparent jibe at AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, Yadav said some "political tourists" have started arriving in Uttar Pradesh after the BJP's electoral defeats in assembly bypolls and legislative council elections.

He further alleged that the political strings of these leaders are controlled from elsewhere, in an apparent reference to Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's recent alliance with Nagina MP Chandra Shekhar Aazad's Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.

"Since the BJP lost, I see several political tourists arriving. They have become loudspeakers for someone else's microphone," he said.

Referring to the recent Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections, Yadav hailed the victory of Samajwadi Party-backed Akash Agarwal from Agra, alleging that the entire administrative machinery was employed to defeat the candidate.

Agarwal was humiliated and subjected to the worst of abuses, but he still emerged victorious, he said, asserting that those who have faced injustice and humiliation are the strength of the 'PDA'.

Accusing the BJP government of playing with the future of young people, Yadav claimed that question papers of more than 20 public examinations had been leaked in Uttar Pradesh, leading to their cancellation.

He alleged that the government was bent on depriving the youth of employment and reservation opportunities.

Yadav also claimed that the BJP government had shut down 26,000 primary schools where children from poor and Dalit families studied. "The government is shutting down schools and opening liquor shops," he jibed, adding that the closures had also affected government teaching jobs.

Raising the issue of representation in higher education institutions, Yadav alleged that Dalits and backward classes were not getting adequate opportunities in these institutions.

He also criticised the condition of government hospitals, claiming that patients were referred to private hospitals when they failed to receive treatment at government facilities.

Yadav alleged that crimes against women, too, were on the rise under BJP rule.

He said a Samajwadi Party government would establish the rule of law and ensure social justice. It would also improve the police and emergency response mechanisms to ensure timely justice for the poor.

Describing the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections as a contest between five per cent and 95 per cent of the population, Yadav alleged that the BJP had exacerbated people's suffering over the past decade.

Referring to the agitation by candidates during the ongoing assistant teachers' recruitment drive over reservation, he said a Samajwadi Party government would ensure that they received their due.

"This time, the lathi will lose and the laptop will win. The youth want to study and progress, but attempts are being made to intimidate them," he said.