Overview
- Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav launched the PDA Rath/PDA Yatra from Raebareli on Thursday, starting a statewide outreach drive that the party says will mobilise backward, Dalit and minority voters.
- Public disagreements have surfaced inside the INDIA bloc, with SP MP Iqra Hasan publicly backing Akhilesh as the lead face in Uttar Pradesh and Congress MP Imran Masood countering that Rahul Gandhi is essential to the opposition effort.
- Congress sources say the party will press for roughly 150 to 200 assembly seats in talks with the SP and have prepared contingency plans to contest all 403 constituencies if no agreement is reached.
- Uttar Pradesh ministers and community figures criticised the yatra's symbolism and motives, with ministers dismissing PDA as election rhetoric and a Muslim cleric urging the community not to join because of the yatra's colour and launch location.
- The 2024 Lok Sabha results that underpinned the alliance and recent public rows raise the risk that early, visible disputes over leadership and seats could weaken coordination on the ground and advantage the BJP as formal seat-sharing talks approach.