Dalits will pull the rug out from under the BJP’s feet, says Samajwadi Party chief at rally

Samajwadi Party National President Akhilesh Yadav during the Dalit Sammelan event in Agra on Sunday.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav coined a fresh slogan on Sunday, “Save vote, save constitution,” as he promised to establish the rule of law and social justice if voted into power in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh State Assembly elections slated for 2027.

Responding to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s remarks about a drop in Hindu votes, the party president urged workers to stay vigilant against “vote ki hera pheri (electoral manipulation)” in the ongoing Special Summary Revision (SSR).

Questioning the need for the SSR, he claimed the BJP was afraid because Dalits had successfully registered their votes and Muslims had safeguarded theirs during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

“They realise they have begun losing the battle of votes,” said Mr. Yadav, referring to the party’s gains in Lok Sabha polls.

Questioning Mr. Adityanath, he said that someone who speaks in terms of “80/20” cannot be a true yogi, asserting that the contest is actually between 95% and 5%.

“This country will not be run by Manuvidha [a legal, social, and moral code attributed to the ancient sage Manu]; it will be run by the Samvidhan [Constitution],” he asserted.

Mr. Yadav was speaking at a rally organised by senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ramjilal Suman, which is seen as part of the SP’s continued outreach towards the SC vote bank that has splintered following the Bahujan Samaj Party’s electoral decline.

The party’s strategy of fielding a Scheduled Caste candidate in the unreserved Ayodhya seat proved successful. In Agra where Dalits constitute around 30 % of the electorate, Mr. Yadav linked the Lok Sabha campaign’s ‘Save the Constitution’ slogan to a call to ‘save the vote’, which he said would protect Dalit dignity in the face of what he termed as the BJP’s discriminatory rule.

Countering the imagery of Angad’s foot invoked by Amit Shah during his address to BJP workers in Lucknow, Mr. Yadav defined the ‘D’ in PDA as “Dumdar Dalit [powerful Dalit]” and declared, “Dalits will pull the rug from under the BJP’s feet and sweep them off power.”

Without naming the alliance between the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram), Mr. Yadav dismissed them as siyasat ke sailani (political tourists) whose “OTP is in someone else’s hands”.

Focusing on AIMIM, whose symbol is a kite, Mr Yadav said their string is in someone else’s hand.

Earlier in his speech, Mr. Yadav linked issues such as exam paper leaks, the closure of primary schools, vacant government posts, and rising crimes against women to his PDA plank, which he redefined as Peedit, Dukhi, and Apmanit [oppressed, distressed, and humiliated].

He raised concerns over the vandalisation of Ambedkar statues across the state, promising to ensure their legal protection if voted to power.

He also pledged a special welfare package for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).

The party is expected to release its election manifesto on November 26.