Akhilesh Yadav, The Ambedkarite

DIn the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, in a traditional stronghold of the Dalit Bangle producers, Samajwadi Party (SP) in Firozabad, he said that he trusted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as he suffered from the hands of Yadavas. An artisan said, “During the SP rule, our women were forcibly denied the queues of ration shops. It was a lot how our leader (Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati) was attacked by SP goons at the State Guest House (in 1995),” said an artisan. Despite the SP and BSP, the mistrust was deep to come together for the 2019 general elections.

Cut by November 2024. Next to Bipol, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav addressed rallies in western up at each rally, outlining the identity of his other backward classes (OBCs). He will mention how lost power in 2017 and vacated the Chief Minister’s official residence in Lucknow, the BJP cleaned the campus with Gangjal as an act of purification. He will then talk about the Kannauj incident in 2024, where BJP workers washed the erstwhile of a temple after going to pray during their Lok Sabha election campaign. By describing these events, Mr. Yadav will align his identity with Dalits, which is historically considered “impure” by the so -called upper castes.

Recently, Mr. Yadav raised his voice against the attack of two Yadav priests in one SP Garh. The BJP accused him of giving a racist spin to the incident. However, it was a Tweet in his politics that won 43 seats with the Congress in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Political analysts say the change in the world approach of Mr. Yadav was clear from 2018 when BR Ambedkar appeared prominently in the party’s pole literature. Shortly thereafter, a part of Ambedkar appeared at the party office in Lucknow, and the party-bound dress, Babasahib Vahini was formed to reach the Dalits. This PDA (at the back, a Hindi abbreviation for Dalits and minorities) has become crystallized in the formula that is paying the electoral dividend. The order of groups may be different, but it is not quite different from the politics of Kanshi Ram’s daughter -in -law (majority people) and focuses on the politics of Sarvajan (all people) of Ms. Mayawati.

This strategy was reflected in ticket distribution in 2024. The party, selecting the candidates, shed its Muslim-Yadv tag and successfully played the Dalit and OBC card. By focusing on the candidates of Kurmi, Shakya, Maurya, and Nishad, and fielding two Dalits from general seats, Mr. Yadav harassed the caste stones of the BJP. The desert of established caste leaders like Swami Prasad Maurya did not affect the party’s performance, indicating that the most backward communities were believed in Mr. Yadav.

Political observers say that with losing the direction of BSP, Mr. Yadav aims to change Ms. Mayawati in the Dalit mind. The inner source of a party says that after the election results, when people saw that ‘Judenge toh jetene (United V Win) ‘It was possible, they would not buy the BJP’s slogan,’Bato you will cut (Divided you will fall) ‘. Instead of hitting the streets, Mr. Yadav has motivated the cadre to catch PDA panchayats in villages across the state to highlight the power of unity and the ‘double engine’ BJP government. A senior party member said, “We are trying to drill the idea that Ram Manohar Lohia and Ambedkar’s ideologies can fulfill the dreams of the country and our ancestors.”

Mr. Yadav is often poetic in Parliament when he criticizes the government’s Waqf Act or death in the Kumbh Mela. However, he finds out his displeasure when journalists try to corner as a dynasty or a privileged politician and accuse him of softening the government.

One of the most important changes in Mr. Yadav’s public behavior, with the family quarrel, is that he no longer gives an imprint of being an unsafe politician. Despite the dishonest statements made by some Congress leaders of UP, Mr. Yadav is committed to India’s block. Along with excluding Azam Khan from the picture, partnership with the Congress helps him outsource the Grand Old Party outsourcing Muslim issues.

A part of young leaders in SP feels that with elections only 18 months away, Mr. Yadav should start a padyatra as Rahul Gandhi did. They are afraid that without active participation of ground level leaders, PDA meetings can only become photo op.