In Akhilesh starting PDA yatra from Rahul’s Raebareli, a message to Congress?

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav’s decision to begin his Peechhda (Backward Classes/OBCs), Dalit, Alpsankhyak (Minorities/Muslims) or PDA Rath Yatra from Raebareli has brought the delayed seat-sharing talks with the Congress in Uttar Pradesh back into focus.

While SP leaders have indicated that the party is prepared to contest all 403 Assembly seats if required, Congress leaders have continued to push for a larger share.

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The PDA Rath Yatra, originally scheduled for early October, has been preponed to September 24. The choice of Raebareli, however, is what has drawn attention. The constituency is represented in the Lok Sabha by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, while Kannauj remains Akhilesh Yadav’s long-standing political stronghold.

Why Raebareli?

Political commentator Sharath Pradhan said the decision could be seen as a possible signal to the Congress and may be connected to the delay in finalising the alliance.

Speaking on The Federal’s Capital Beat, Pradhan said neither the SP nor the Congress was in a position to fight the BJP alone, pointing to the SP’s organisational base in Uttar Pradesh while arguing that the Congress remained important to any broader opposition arrangement.

He also argued that Akhilesh Yadav should not assume the SP can sweep the election on its own, and warned that a direct fight between the SP and Congress could create difficulties for the party.

SP leader Sarvesh Tripathi, however, said the move would strengthen the opposition alliance rather than weaken it. He argued that an SP campaign in a Congress stronghold could also benefit Congress workers and supporters.

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Political analyst Vivek Srivastava said the Raebareli yatra should not be interpreted as a threat or competition between the two allies. He said both parties were already campaigning in their own ways, pointing to Rahul Gandhi’s programmes focused on youth, employment, education and healthcare, while describing the PDA campaign as the SP’s principal political outreach in Uttar Pradesh.

Seat-sharing talks

The comments come against the backdrop of delayed seat-sharing talks between the two parties.

A Telegraph report said Akhilesh Yadav was not willing to give the Congress more than 55 seats. Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Rai was quoted as saying that the party would not settle for fewer than 150 seats.

Commenting on the report, Srivastava said the SP was more dependent on Uttar Pradesh, while the Congress had a national presence, giving the two parties different political calculations.

Senior journalist TK Rajalakshmi described the public exchange over seat-sharing as a combination of positioning and bargaining. She said such negotiations would ideally happen behind closed doors rather than through public statements, since every comment could lead to a reaction and further speculation.

Tripathi, however, rejected allegations of tension between the two parties and said nothing should be speculated until a statement comes from Akhilesh Yadav or Rahul Gandhi. He maintained that the two leaders had remained connected.

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He also said the SP was prepared to contest all 403 Assembly seats if required. Tripathi said the opposition’s objective should be to defeat the BJP and argued that parties opposed to the BJP should work together. He also pointed to the 2024 Lok Sabha results in Uttar Pradesh as evidence of the SP’s position in the state.

The bigger challenge

Srivastava said the two sides could resolve differences over the number of seats through discussions, but identifying viable constituencies would be the larger challenge.

Rajalakshmi echoed the view, saying the parties needed to determine which seats each could realistically win rather than publicly debate numbers.

She said the INDIA bloc needed to get its organisational arrangements in place as the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election approaches.