Akhilesh Yadav Launches PDA Rath Yatra In Rae Bareli To Kickstart Samajwadi Party's 2027 UP Assembly Election Campaign | Video

Rae Bareli: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday launched his campaign for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections with a PDA Rath (chariot) yatra in Rae Bareli, drawing a large number of party workers and supporters onto the streets.

Yadav, who travelled on the specially decorated chariot, was welcomed by party workers at several places along the route. The yatra is being projected by the SP as a mobilisation drive around its PDA plank, which the party defines as the representation of backward classes, Dalits and minorities.

Before setting out, Yadav posted on social media: “The ‘PDA Chariot’ sets forth. The voice of ‘PDA’ joins in. Now, a ‘change’ is about to happen. UP will once again be prosperous.”

The campaign comes as political parties begin stepping up preparations for the 2027 Assembly elections. For the SP, the PDA formula remains central to its effort to consolidate support among backward classes, Dalits and minorities and challenge the BJP in the state.

Addressing supporters in Rae Bareli, Yadav said people were fed up with the BJP government and were looking for a change. He sought to portray the yatra as the beginning of a wider political mobilisation ahead of the elections.

“The people of Uttar Pradesh are now looking for change,” Yadav said, according to party leaders present at the programme. He also attacked the BJP over issues including unemployment, inflation and the condition of farmers and young people.

The visual messaging of the yatra was also significant. Posters put up in Rae Bareli depicted Yadav as Lord Krishna, adding a religious and cultural element to the SP's campaign imagery. The party has increasingly used Yadav's own political leadership and the PDA slogan as central elements of its preparations for the next Assembly election.

The SP is seeking to build on its performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, when it emerged as the state's largest party in terms of seats won. The BJP, however, remains the principal political rival of the SP in the state.

The PDA chariot is expected to become an important part of the SP's campaign outreach as the party seeks to take its message beyond traditional party meetings and connect directly with voters across the state.

For Yadav, Thursday's programme was also an attempt to give an early campaign shape to the opposition's call for change, with the 2027 election still months away.