Before the upcoming assembly by-polls in ten seats in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav is preparing to spread the message of his PDA plank in the state. Yadav has criticized the NDA government over its withdrawal of the latest advertisement for lateral entry into bureaucracy, saying it is a part of BJP's conspiracy to deprive “PDA” (picchde, Dalit, alpsankhyak) of reservation benefits. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath too has blasted Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav over his ‘PDA' slogan, accusing him of disrespecting OBC leader and former CM Kalyan Singh. Speaking at the ‘Hindu Gaurav Divas' event on Singh's third death anniversary, Adityanath condemned Yadav for not paying tributes to Singh. However, PDA stands for backward classes, Dalits, and minorities who had voted in favour of the SP in Lok Sabha polls helping the party secure 37 seats in UP. Akhilesh has prominently emerged on the national political stage by halting the BJP's victory march in Uttar Pradesh. The setback in Uttar Pradesh, where the seat tally declined from 62 in the 2019 Lok Sabha election to 33 in the 2024 parliamentary election, refrained the BJP from gaining a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha.
