SP's PDA a 'sham', Akhilesh hostile to Dalits: UP Minister OP Rajbhar
Synopsis
UP Minister O.P. Rajbhar has turned the PDA slogan — Akhilesh Yadav's most potent coalition pitch — into an attack weapon, calling it a shifting, incoherent 'sham' while invoking the 1995 Guest House incident and alleged statue vandalism under SP rule. With 2027 in sight, the BJP-allied SBSP is clearly working to peel Dalit votes away from the SP's broad-tent alliance.
Key Takeaways
Rajbhar , UP Minister and SBSP president, called Akhilesh Yadav's PDA formula a 'sham' on 20 September 2026 in Lucknow.
Rajbhar alleged SP workers vandalised statues of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar across districts including Jaunpur, Mau, Sitapur and Azamgarh between 2012 and 2017 .
He alleged a Dalit Gram Pradhan in Agra was beaten to death by SP workers for not voting SP — an allegation that could not be independently verified.
Rajbhar raised the Lucknow Guest House incident of 2 June 1995 , alleging SP workers tried to 'assassinate' BSP chief Mayawati .
He accused the Akhilesh government of abolishing reservation in promotions and scrapping Dalit-focused schemes and districts named after Dalit icons.
Rajbhar warned that Akhilesh Yadav's 'vision' would 'come to nothing' in the 2027 UP assembly elections .
Uttar Pradesh Minister and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) President O.P. Rajbhar on 20 September 2026 launched a sharp broadside against Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow, calling the SP's 'PDA' coalition formula a 'sham' and accusing Yadav of harbouring a 'hostile' attitude toward Dalits and icons associated with the community.
The PDA Formula Under Attack
Rajbhar questioned the very coherence of Akhilesh Yadav's signature political formulation, arguing that its meaning shifts to suit the occasion. 'Akhilesh Yadav's definition of PDA keeps changing — sometimes he defines it as Backward-Dalit-Minority, while at other times he interprets 'P' as Pandit, 'D' as Dalit, and 'A' as Ahir; he also variously defines 'A' as Minority, 'Aadhi Aabadi' (women), or 'Agrada' (forward castes),' Rajbhar said. Critics have long noted that the PDA slogan's elastic framing has been both its political strength and its rhetorical vulnerability.
Allegations of Dalit Atrocities Under SP Rule
Rajbhar alleged that Samajwadi Party workers vandalised 'numerous' statues of Babasaheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar between 2012 and 2017 — the period of the SP government under Akhilesh Yadav — citing reported incidents from districts including Jaunpur, Mau, Sitapur, and Azamgarh. He also alleged that a Dalit Gram Pradhan in Agra was beaten to death by SP workers during the same tenure, claiming the village head's only 'crime' was that he had not voted for the Samajwadi Party. These allegations could not be independently verified.
'If one examines the data regarding Ambedkar, it becomes evident that atrocities against Dalits multiplied under Akhilesh's rule,' Rajbhar said. He further alleged that 'Yadavs and Muslims — who constitute the SP's vote bank — are at the forefront of incidents involving atrocities against Dalits in Uttar Pradesh' even today.
The 1995 Guest House Incident Invoked
Rajbhar also raised the Lucknow Guest House incident of 2 June 1995 — a politically charged episode in which BSP supremo Mayawati was allegedly threatened by SP workers — to sharpen his attack. 'SP goons wanted to assassinate Mayawati. Fortunately, BJP leaders arrived at the scene. Had the BJP people not been there, Mayawati might well have been killed; her life was saved only by a stroke of luck,' Rajbhar alleged. He said Akhilesh Yadav's adoption of the blue scarf — symbolically associated with the Bahujan movement — had become a 'noose' rather than an asset, evoking that contested history.
Policy Grievances and the 2027 Warning
Beyond symbolism, Rajbhar levelled specific policy-level accusations: that the Akhilesh Yadav government had abolished the provision for reservation in promotions, dismantled districts and parks named after Dalit icons, and scrapped schemes designed for Dalit upliftment. He contrasted this record with the current Yogi Adityanath government, asserting that the dignity of Dalit icons was now secure. 'That is why the vision Akhilesh Yadav is pursuing will once again come to nothing in 2027,' Rajbhar said, in an apparent reference to the next Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
The attack signals that the BJP-led alliance in Uttar Pradesh is calibrating a Dalit-centric counter-narrative well ahead of the 2027 state elections — with the SBSP, which has a significant following among the OBC Rajbhar community in eastern UP, being deployed as a frontline voice on caste politics.
Point of View
The BJP-allied SBSP is beginning to systematically contest the SP's Dalit credentials before the PDA narrative hardens into electoral reality. The invocation of the 1995 Guest House episode is a telling choice — it is the one moment that most viscerally captures the Mayawati-SP antagonism, and deploying it now is designed to remind Dalit voters that the current SP-BSP cold war has deep, violent roots. What mainstream coverage underplays is that Rajbhar himself represents the Rajbhar OBC community, not Dalits — his anti-PDA messaging is partly about his own community's positioning within the NDA coalition, and partly a bid to fracture any Dalit-OBC solidarity the SP is trying to build. Whether these charges stick will depend on whether the SP can produce a credible counter-record on Dalit welfare — something it has so far struggled to do.
NationPress
20 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the PDA formula that O.P. Rajbhar is attacking?
PDA is a coalition formula popularised by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, broadly standing for Pichhda (Backward), Dalit, and Alpasankhyak (Minority). Rajbhar's criticism is that the acronym's meaning is frequently redefined by Yadav — sometimes 'P' means Pandit, 'A' means Ahir or women — making it, in his view, a politically opportunistic rather than principled formulation.
What specific allegations did Rajbhar make about the SP's record on Dalits?
Rajbhar alleged that SP workers vandalised statues of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar across districts including Jaunpur, Mau, Sitapur and Azamgarh during the 2012–2017 SP government. He also alleged that a Dalit Gram Pradhan in Agra was killed by SP workers for not voting SP, and that the Akhilesh government abolished reservation in promotions and dismantled Dalit-named districts and schemes. These allegations were not independently verified.
What is the Lucknow Guest House incident of 1995 that Rajbhar referred to?
The Lucknow Guest House incident of 2 June 1995 involved an alleged attack by Samajwadi Party workers on a state government guest house where BSP chief Mayawati was present. Rajbhar alleged SP workers intended to 'assassinate' Mayawati and that she was saved only by the arrival of BJP leaders — a claim rooted in the contested political history of that episode.
Why is O.P. Rajbhar attacking Akhilesh Yadav now?
Rajbhar's attack appears to be a pre-emptive political move ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. As a BJP-allied party with a base in the OBC Rajbhar community in eastern UP, the SBSP has an interest in undermining the SP's PDA narrative — which seeks to consolidate Backward, Dalit, and Minority votes — before it gains traction.
What did Rajbhar say about the Yogi Adityanath government by contrast?
Rajbhar asserted that under the current Yogi Adityanath-led government, the honour of Dalit icons was 'secure' and no untoward incidents were occurring — directly contrasting it with what he described as the SP's hostile record on Dalit issues between 2012 and 2017.
