Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday, 24 September 2026, launched the party's 'PDA Yatra' from Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh, kicking off a campaign trail the SP hopes will set the tone for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. The yatra began aboard a specially designed saffron-coloured rath — a modified bus — marking the SP's formal launch of its ground-level outreach drive.

How the Yatra Was Launched

Ahead of the yatra, SP leaders and workers put up posters and hoardings across Raebareli. The campaign material depicted Akhilesh Yadav in the avatars of Lord Ram and Lord Krishna, and also carried images of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and Dr B.R. Ambedkar. The choice of Raebareli — a constituency traditionally regarded as a Congress stronghold — is itself a political signal, suggesting the SP is looking to consolidate opposition voter bases in the region ahead of the assembly polls.

What the BJP Ministers Said

Uttar Pradesh Minister Anil Rajbhar questioned the SP's use of the term PDA, saying, 'The SP needs to clarify to the people of Uttar Pradesh exactly who they are referring to as PDA. To date, the Samajwadi Party has failed to define PDA. They are attempting to deceive the public by merely changing their guise. However, the public knows and recognises them very well; their tactics will not succeed in the 2027 Assembly elections.'

Rajbhar further dismissed the yatra itself, saying, 'It holds no significance. They are simply killing time. With elections approaching, they feel compelled to do something. They are aware of the fate that awaits the Samajwadi Party, yet they are doing this merely to pass the time.'

Minister Kapil Dev Agarwal also took aim at the SP chief, saying, 'Akhilesh Yadav is now concerned about PDA, castes, various religions, the Ram Temple, and all these issues because the elections are approaching. For the entire four-and-a-half years, he kept tweeting... There is now an atmosphere of trust in the state towards CM Yogi Adityanath and PM Narendra Modi. The trust remains intact and is continuously growing.'

Minister Dayashankar Singh went further, calling the PDA campaign an outright 'jumla' — an election-season gimmick. He said, 'PDA is jumla; just an election slogan for them. Akhilesh Yadav himself is confused about what PDA actually is. Sometimes you see him say P stands for Backward Classes, then P stands for Pandit, and sometimes A stands for minorities, then A stands for half the population. This is nothing; it is just an election slogan for them.'

Raebareli Controversy in the Background

Minister O.P. Rajbhar linked the choice of Raebareli as a launch venue to a recent controversy involving an SP district president and a police officer, alleging that Akhilesh Yadav was travelling there to 'boost the morale of his unruly people.' The SP has not formally responded to these specific allegations.

Significance Ahead of 2027

The PDA Yatra launch marks the opening salvo of what is expected to be a prolonged pre-election campaign season in Uttar Pradesh, with multiple parties intensifying their organisational activities and public outreach. Notably, the SP's framing around PDA — widely understood to denote a coalition of Backward Classes, Dalits, and minorities — mirrors the coalition politics that delivered the party significant gains in earlier cycles. Whether the messaging resonates amid a strong counter-narrative from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will likely define the contest well before polling day.