LUCKNOW: When Samajwadi Party (SP) bagged 37 of 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP in 2024 polls by playing out its PDA (Pichhda, Dalit and Alpsankhyak) narrative, it was expected that leaders from backward classes, Dalits and Muslims would get wider representation in the party structure. However, the current organizational structure reflects the dominance of SP’s core M-Y (Muslim-Yadav) combination.
About 70% of the party’s 97 district and metropolitan presidents belong to Yadav and Muslim communities, raising questions over the enforcement of the PDA slogan within the party organisation. Though the Yadav population in the state is estimated to be 8-9%, this core vote bank dominates the SP’s organisation.
As many as 42 district president posts have gone to Yadavs. Muslims come second with 24 positions. Only seven people from the general category have been made district chiefs.
“SP had achieved success in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections with PDA slogan. Akhilesh Yadav went to the Lok Sabha from Kannauj vacating his Karhal assembly seat. He had the opportunity to field a person from PDA category in Karhal bypoll, but he fielded his nephew Tej Pratap Yadav. SP’s PDA narrative now stands exposed,” a BSP leader said.
BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said SP’s PDA model was a facade. “Outside the family, they will not give major responsibility to anyone. In the organization too, they don’t look beyond the M-Y equation,” he said.
SP spokesperson Udayveer Singh said district presidents are chosen based on people’s opinion. “In the state committee, it is ensured that every section of society gets a place,” he said.