Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has formally launched his party’s campaign for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections from Raebareli, the Lok Sabha constituency of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Yadav addressed a large public meeting in the city after arriving on the party’s PDA Rath, signalling the start of a long battle for India’s most politically crucial state.

The choice of Raebareli is significant. It is a Congress bastion and the seat currently held by Rahul Gandhi, and launching the campaign from there is being read as a message of opposition unity. The Samajwadi Party and the Congress fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together in Uttar Pradesh, and the alliance delivered strong results that boosted Akhilesh’s confidence.

PDA pitch and vote chori charge

Yadav’s campaign is built around the PDA plank, an acronym for Pichhda, Dalit and Alpsankhyak, through which the SP hopes to consolidate backward classes, Dalits and minorities. The PDA Rath has become the centrepiece of the party’s outreach, touring districts to rally support well ahead of the polls.

Yadav has also kept up his attack on the Election Commission, calling Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar an election snatcher. He has alleged that votes were stolen in the past, claiming that a Samajwadi government would have been formed in 2022 if the votes of this generation had not been taken away.

BJP hits back

The BJP was quick to react to the Raebareli launch, dismissing the SP’s campaign as political theatre and questioning the opposition’s unity. Party leaders said the people of Uttar Pradesh had repeatedly rejected the Samajwadi Party and would do so again.

With nearly two years to go for the assembly polls, the battle lines are already being drawn. Akhilesh’s early start shows the SP means business, and the BJP’s sharp response indicates it is taking the challenge seriously.