NEW DELHI: P for Pichde (backwards) … P for Pidit (oppressed) … and now P for Pandit. Is Akhilesh Yadav playing smart with his acronym politics? Or is the SP chief just desperate not to miss any support group as he expands his PDA politics for the 2027 assembly elections?When Akhilesh Yadav coined the term PDA, it originally stood for Pichde (backwards), Dalits and Alpsankhyaks (minorities) – who were the core voter base of the party. His social coalition did wonders in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, helping the party win 37 seats – its best-ever performance in the state.Little wonder, from 2024 to 2026, Akhilesh has changed the full form of his acronym PDA many times. The latest one was last week, when he asserted that “PD” in his PDA also stood for the Pandits.“People keep talking about PDA and inventing new definitions of it. Ever since they lost to PDA, they have been trying to redefine it. But they have forgotten that the ‘PD’ in PDA also stands for Pandits. The more they inflict pain (peeda), the stronger PDA will become,” Akhilesh Yadav said at a Brahmin Sammelan organised at the SP state headquarters in Lucknow on the birth anniversary of late socialist leader Janeshwar Mishra.The SP chief went on to allege that the Yogi Adityanath government had denied permission to hold the event at its proposed venue, Janeshwar Mishra Park in Gomti Nagar, which forced the party to hold it at their office premises instead.
Why “PD” for Pandits now
Akhilesh Yadav’s outreach to Brahmins adds an interesting dimension to his politics. His PDA politics is an attempt to broaden his social coalition in the state and break free from the stereotype of being a “Yadav-Muslim” leader/party. In fact, the idea behind his PDA acronym was to include the Dalits in his support base. And to that extent, his experiment yielded great results in 2024. The SP managed to get sizable support of Dalits in UP, who have in large numbers moved away from Mayawati’s BSP in the last two elections.But as Akhilesh Yadav gears up for the 2027 electoral battle, his Dalit outreach faces a new challenge. And this challenge comes from the ruling BJP, which has embarked on an aggressive campaign to woo the Dalits. From renaming Bhadohi as Sant Ravi Das Nagar to launching a seven-month campaign to honour Sant Ravi Das – the BJP is going all out to woo the Dalits in both Uttar Pradesh and Punjab – the two states that go to assembly polls early next year.To perhaps counter this, Akhilesh has set his eyes on the Brahmins amid talk of resentment among a section of the community with the BJP.Then there is also BSP chief Mayawati, who has renewed her Brahmin outreach for the 2027 elections and has stepped up her attacks on the SP. In June, Mayawati targeted Akhilesh in a post on X, and wrote: “Ever since the BSP started selecting candidates keeping in mind the participation of upper-caste communities, especially Brahmins, there is a visible restlessness among the Opposition parties, particularly the Samajwadi Party.”Earlier in January, in her birthday address, Mayawati had sought to remind voters of the political importance and representation Brahmins enjoyed during the BSP governments. She had also alleged that the community was facing neglect under the BJP.
‘Brahmins have been subjected to extreme peeda’
Akhilesh has claimed that the Brahmins have been subjected to extreme peeda (pain) for long by the BJP govt. Recalling instances where Brahmins were at the receiving end, Akhilesh referred to the Sept 2023 murder of Dr Ghanshyam Tiwari, a doctor at a community health centre in Sultanpur, allegedly by a local muscleman Ajai Narain Singh, who was also said to be a BJP member.“Those who remember the sensational murder will recall the allegations that a drill machine was used by the accused to torture the doctor to death,” Akhilesh said.He then referred to gangster Vikas Dubey, who was arrested in Madhya Pradesh for a police party ambush in which eight policemen were shot dead in Kanpur. On July 10, 2020 Vikas was being transported back to Uttar Pradesh when the police vehicle carrying him overturned following an alleged escape attempt in which Dubey was shot dead. “Everyone knows why the vehicle overturned,” Akhilesh said, adding that had Vikas Dubey survived, he would have revealed uncomfortable facts for the BJP govt.Akhilesh also recalled how Swami Avimukteshwaranand was prevented from taking a holy dip at Sangam during Magh Mela and how Batuks (Brahmin disciples) were humiliated at the same event.“If there is any example in history where a government stopped a Shankaracharya from taking a holy dip, show us one. The Shankaracharya had to stage a protest, and the police misbehaved with his disciples. A false POCSO case was also filed to intimidate him, but he did not bow down,” Yadav said at the gathering.But Akhilesh needs to be cautious. While he goes all out to woo the Brahmins, the SP chief should be careful about not losing the trust and support of his core voters.
‘SP keeps changing colors like a chameleon’
Interestingly, Akhilesh’s Brahmin outreach drew an immediate and sharp response from Mayawati. The Bahujan Samaj Party chief claimed that SP’s Brahmin outreach was due to upper-caste voters, particularly Brahmins, moving towards the BSP.In a post on X, BSP supremo wrote, “As is well known, the Bahujan Samaj Party (B.S.P.) is an Ambedkarite party dedicated to the welfare of all sections of society, implementing the policy and principle of ‘Sarvajan Hitaya and Sarvajan Sukhaya,’ and the four governments it formed in UP were also run on this very basis, whereas the Samajwadi Party (SP) keeps changing colors like a chameleon, openly and evidently, for the sake of its narrow casteist politics and electoral interests, etc.““In this very sequence, after first promoting ‘P’ in their so-called ‘PDA’–meaning (Backward, Dalit, Minority)–as ‘Pichhde’ (Backward), now, upon seeing the upper-caste society, especially the Brahmin community, rapidly joining the B.S.P. and party candidates being nominated on that very basis, the SP, feeling unsettled, has now changed ‘P’ to ‘Pandit,’ which is nothing short of another living proof of their political deception and trickery, if not, then what else is it?” the BSP chief’s post read.Mayawati, whose Dalit-Brahmin social coalition had helped BSP form government in 2007, urged voters across communities to remain cautious of SP’s “narrow casteist politics”, arguing that such political tactics may offer short-term electoral benefits but cannot ensure the welfare of society as a whole.
Why Brahmins matter in UP politics
Brahmins are a sizable chunk of UP’s population but not large enough, or perhaps orgainsed enough, to sway electoral outcomes. The Brahmins are spread across all 403 assembly seats in the state without dominating even one of them.Ever since the Congress’s decline in UP, the community has backed the BJP without asking many questions. So, while the BJP tries to woo the other caste groups to broaden its social coalition, the Brahmins are perhaps taken for granted by the saffron party.
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This somewhat settled relationship between the BJP and the Brahmins suffered a jolt when around 35 party legislators were pulled up by the UP leadership for meeting over dinner in Lucknow last December. Two days after this meeting, UP BJP chief issued a warning to party lawmakers against organising caste-based gatherings, saying such actions go against the party’s constitution and values. He said any such activity in future would be treated as an act of indiscipline. This, even though BJP legislators from other communities have held such meetings in UP without facing any party action.
Should BJP be worried about support of Brahmins
For years, the Brahmins have been part of BJP’s core voter base. The BJP’s electoral politics aligns largely with the aspirations of the community. Though numerically small compared to other caste groups, the BJP has ensured their representation in adequate numbers, both in the party and the government. But the developments in the run-up to the 2027 electoral challenge may require the BJP to reassure the community that has often stood with the party.So, will the Brahmins back the BJP in the 2027 assembly elections? Or will Akhilesh Yadav or Mayawati manage to woo them into his PDA fold? Well, the next few months may see the community being wooed by all parties, including the BJP.
