Several Uttar Pradesh cabinet ministers on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, launched a coordinated attack on Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, accusing him of running an agenda to 'confuse' voters and keep them 'in the dark' — a response triggered by Yadav's social media declaration that SP now has its eyes on all 403 assembly seats in the state.

The trigger was an X post by Akhilesh Yadav, in which he wrote: 'Now our eyes are not on three, but on 403.' The remark landed amid speculation about SP's strategy ahead of the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, and drew immediate and sharp pushback from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Deputy CMs lead the BJP counter-offensive

Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak told reporters that the SP routinely targets constitutional institutions whenever it needs someone to blame for electoral losses. 'The BJP is coming to power with a massive mandate in 2027, and the Opposition has understood this very well,' he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya was more pointed, saying the BJP expects to win 11 Legislative Council seats and eight Rajya Sabha seats in the upcoming elections. 'Akhilesh Yadav is talking about 403, but he used to struggle even to cross 100 seats. You saw their situation in 2022,' Maurya said, adding: 'This time, let's see whether their bicycle can even reach half-century.' The 'bicycle' reference is a dig at the SP's party symbol.

Ministers pile on: 'Confusion and hatred'

Uttar Pradesh Minister Danish Azad Ansari said the SP's pivot to a 403-seat claim exposes the hollowness of its earlier bluster. 'Until yesterday, SP leaders were making big claims that they would field candidates on their own, surprise everyone and create a big impact. But when it came time to make an impact, their firecrackers fizzled out,' he said. Ansari characterised SP's politics as revolving around 'confusion' and 'hatred', asserting that the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government has delivered tangible development for the state.

Uttar Pradesh Minister Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary argued that internal SP conflict undermines the party's numerical claims. 'They know that they do not have the required numbers and even where they have numbers, there is so much conflict within their MLAs,' he said. He also took a jibe at SP's PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpasankhyak) outreach, remarking: 'For them it stands for Parivar Development Authority' — implying the party serves dynastic interests rather than backward and marginalised communities.

Other ministers weigh in

Nishad Party chief and UP minister Sanjay Nishad invoked a longer arc: 'I am telling you, whatever he (Akhilesh) says, the opposite happens. I have been seeing this since 2014.' Minister Dinesh Pratap Singh claimed there is a visible rift between Yadav and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, saying the two are 'targeting each other'. 'Let both of them first fight against each other, then the BJP will deal with whoever wins among them,' he told reporters.

Minister of State Rajni Tiwari said the Opposition appeared to be retreating from its own earlier positions. 'They appear to be losing ground and seem to be backing away from what they have said,' she remarked.

What the political context signals

The timing of Akhilesh Yadav's '403 seats' declaration — and the BJP's swift, multi-minister rebuttal — reflects the early positioning ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. The SP secured 111 seats in the 2022 state elections, well short of a majority in the 403-seat assembly. BJP ministers are eager to use that number as a credibility benchmark against Yadav's all-seat ambition. Whether SP's Rajya Sabha strategy and its PDA coalition can be rebuilt into a genuine 403-seat campaign will be the defining question of the run-up to 2027.