Akhilesh Yadav’s Rae Bareli PDA yatra puts SP-Congress ties in focus

Akhilesh’s visit to Rahul Lodhi’s house is taking place in the wake of September 17 clashes between the members of the RSS’ student wing ABVP and the SP-affiliated Chhatra Sabha at Feroze Gandhi Degree College in Rae Bareli city.

The SP has alleged that its student wing members were assaulted by the ABVP activists, questioning the police action. Rahul Lodhi has also accused the police of “high-handedness” and “caste discrimination”. Akhilesh has described the entire episode as an alleged attack on the PDA.

SP, Congress equations

SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary told The Indian Express that the immediate trigger for Akhilesh’s Rae Bareli visit was the alleged manhandling of the Chhatra Sabha leaders and “inadequate response” by the administration.

“Our Samajwadi Party Chhatra Sabha leaders were manhandled and the administration did not respond properly. So Adhyaksh ji (Akhilesh) announced that he would have tea at the house of our Harchandpur MLA Rahul Lodhi and take out the Rath Yatra in Rae Bareli,” Chaudhary said.

He also claimed that Akhilesh’s September 24 programme should be seen “in isolation” and that his PDA Yatra would be “formally launched” later.

The leaders of both the parties, however, say the selection of Rae Bareli as the starting point of the Yatra has become politically more significant, given that it is the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP)’s constituency and that the SP and the Congress are soon expected to start their seat-sharing negotiations for contesting the upcoming elections as an alliance. The Congress camp has already been pressing for expediting these talks. Both allies have also started to work out strategies and build up their narratives for the elections.

While the Congress has a direct stake in Rae Bareli as it is Rahul’s seat, the SP has been a dominant player in its Assembly segments.

Seat-sharing play

In its negotiations with the Congress, the SP is likely to stake its claim for a larger share of Rae Bareli’s Assembly seats, citing the number of its MLAs. Of the five Assembly segments under the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat, three are represented by the SP MLAs – Bachhrawan, Harchandpur and Sareni – while the remaining two, Rae Bareli and Unchahar, are held by the BJP.

Some SP leaders say this point could be part of talks when the two allies discuss their seat-sharing agreement. The party has, however, sought to delink Akhilesh’s September 24 event from it.

The Congress leaders are also tracking the SP’s moves closely as they are aware that the two parties will have to work out their respective claims in the region if they continue their alliance for the 2027 polls.

“Rae Bareli is not just another district for the Congress. It is Rahul Gandhi’s constituency. SP has three sitting MLAs here, while we have none. Still, we would certainly expect a decent share of seats here. So it is wait and watch for us now,” a state Congress leader said.

For the SP, Akhilesh’s move to begin his PDA Rath Yatra from Rae Bareli would have an additional layer of political messaging. The SP insiders say it would give the SP an opening to reaffirm its existing electoral presence in the district besides highlighting its PDA plank.