The Samajwadi Party is preparing for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections by widening its caste base, hiring a political consultancy and testing its alliance with the Congress. In August, party chief Akhilesh Yadav said the P in his PDA formula stood for Pandits and not only Pichhda, or backward classes, and spoke at a Brahmin gathering at the party headquarters in Lucknow. The party has hired the consultancy I-PAC to design its campaign, and the Election Commission is preparing for polls in five states, including Uttar Pradesh, in early 2027. Rivals in the state government have responded with sharp attacks.
The argument that the party is organising seriously for 2027 is based on these steps. The outreach to Brahmin voters is an attempt to add a group that has traditionally voted for other parties to its base of backward-class and minority voters. On New Year’s Day 2026 Akhilesh Yadav hosted a bati-chokha lunch at the party headquarters, which mocked the discord in the BJP and extended a hand to disgruntled legislators. I-PAC teams have begun informal consultations with local leaders in several districts to identify weak pockets and swing areas, and one report says the party’s strategy focuses on non-Yadav backward communities that have distanced themselves from the BJP. Asaduddin Owaisi has sought a tie-up with the party, but it has said an alliance at present is unlikely.
The counter-argument is that the strategy carries risks. The BJP and the BSP criticised the Brahmin outreach, accusing the Samajwadi Party of changing colours like a chameleon, and a change of message can unsettle the core voters that the PDA formula was meant to consolidate. The alliance with the Congress is also under question: on 30 August Om Prakash Rajbhar, who is a minister in the state government and leads the SBSP, predicted a break between Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi and claimed that the Congress leader had concluded that the SP had little chance of forming the government. That claim is Rajbhar’s alone, and neither the Congress nor the SP has confirmed a rift. On 12 October Rajbhar called Akhilesh Yadav a fugitive and Jayant Chaudhary of the RLD attacked him in Agra, which shows how hard the ruling side is pressing.
Uttar Pradesh sends more members to the Lok Sabha than any other state, so the 2027 result will shape the national mood as well as the state government. The Samajwadi Party is also working under pressure from allies of the BJP such as the SBSP and the RLD, which have used the run-up to question its leadership and its alliance. A stronger SP-Congress combination would make the contest more competitive, while a split would help the BJP by dividing opposition votes. The Election Commission’s review of preparations in five states in early 2027 shows that the clock is running.
The Samajwadi Party has a clear plan but also real risks in changing its message and managing its alliances. The next few months will show whether the outreach brings in new voters without losing the old ones. The contest is still more than a year away, so each of these moves can be adjusted, but the early signs show how the party is positioning itself.
Featured image: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav (file photo). Photo: Prateek Dubey, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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