PDA-Muslim Yadav-Gen Z combination will wipe out BJP: Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday sought to broaden the anti-BJP coalition in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2027 assembly elections, saying that a combination of PDA, Muslim-Yadav voters, and an angry Gen Z would ensure the BJP's defeat.

PDA is an acronym coined by Yadav for "Picchda, Dalit, Alpasankhyak", which means "Backwards, Dalits, Minorities".

"If the Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) votes are intact and the PDA is brought together, with the anger growing among Gen Z, the BJP's wipeout is certain," he said.


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The remarks signal an effort to combine the Samajwadi Party's traditional Muslim-Yadav support base with a broader social coalition of backward classes, Dalits and minorities, while seeking to tap into youth discontent.

Over the last few years, Yadav has largely steered clear of foregrounding the M-Y formulation in his public messaging and instead focused on the PDA. The party has sought to expand the definition of PDA to incorporate different social groups and has presented it as a broader political alternative to the BJP.

The BJP, however, has repeatedly targeted the Samajwadi Party's M-Y formula. During the 2022 assembly election campaign, the BJP leaders sought to recast the acronym as "Modi-Yogi", arguing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had joined forces to counter the Samajwadi Party's Muslim-Yadav support base.

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The BJP also used M-Y to mean "Mahila" (women) and "Yuva" (youth), attempting to broaden its appeal beyond caste and religious identities.

Commenting on the recent protests against the Election Commission, Yadav defended the right to peaceful demonstrations.

"In a democracy, people have the right to march, stage a sit-in and peacefully express their views," he said.

He asked why people in civilian clothes who allegedly attacked protesters at the Delhi demonstration had not been arrested.

"From what we are seeing and hearing, and from what the pictures indicate, the BJP has not arrested them because they are associated with the same ideology," he said.

Drawing a comparison with Nazi Germany, Yadav alleged that political workers are being used against ordinary people.

"This is what Hitler used to do. During Hitler's time, political workers were dressed in police uniforms, while others in civilian clothes also took action against the public. They have learnt this from Hitler," he said.

He blamed the Centre for the problems faced by public institutions. "The BJP is the crisis. Remove the crisis, and then your institutions will improve."

Yadav also criticised the BJP-led Centre for its foreign policy, accusing it of failing to protect Indian citizens amid the conflict involving Iran, US and Israel.

"I have not seen a government so weak on its foreign policy," he said, taking a swipe at the BJP's claims of making India a Vishwaguru and invoking the principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. He said these claims ring hollow if the government could not protect the lives of Indians working abroad.

Yadav said the BJP-led state government will be defeated soon, as it has weakened public healthcare and forced poor people to seek treatment at private hospitals and nursing homes.

He alleged that the BJP wants to end treatment at government institutions and push people towards private facilities.

"The hospitals themselves are sick and need treatment," he said.