The Samajwadi Party (SP) is set to mark the 135th birth anniversary of Babasaheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar with statewide programmes, using the occasion to step up its outreach to Dalit communities ahead of the 2027 assembly elections.
Party workers, along with members of the frontal organisation, Samajwadi Party Ambedkar Vahini, have been tasked with making the occasion memorable and sending across the message to people how the BJP is “hell-bent on changing the Constitution” and how the Constitution would remains “under continuous threat” if the BJP continues to be in power.
The Samajwadi Party Ambedkar Vahini, led by Mithai Lal Bharti, has been assigned to connect with communities under its PDA (Pichhde, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) plank. They will also convey that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), led by Mayawati, has “strayed” from the path shown by Ambedkar.
Ram Babu Sudarshan, general secretary of the Samajwadi Party Ambedkar Vahini, said, “Members will mark the occasion in their localities and tell people how the BJP endangers our Constitution. The BJP has already caused significant societal disturbance; if it remains in power, the reservation system will be in danger.”
“We will also tell people how constitutional organisations have been systematically weakened under the BJP, depriving the Dalits and OBCs of their rights,” added Sudarshan.
District-level programmes, including seminars on constitutional values, Ambedkar portrait distribution drives, and ‘Samajik Nyay Sabha’ (Social Justice Conventions), have been planned across all 75 districts by the Samajwadi Party.
The move is widely seen as a calibrated attempt to strengthen the party’s PDA plank ahead of the 2027 state assembly polls. In the 2022 elections, the SP successfully stitched together Yadav, Muslim and substantial Dalit support to emerge as the principal opposition party in the state.
On March 15 last, the Samajwadi Party celebrated the birth anniversary of Dalit ideologue and BSP founder Kanshi Ram as ‘PDA Diwas’ or ‘Bahujan Samaj Diwas’ across the state. However, the move drew a sharp reaction from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati, who termed it a “mere drama”.
The SP’s outreach to Dalits has evolved over the years, moving from symbolic gestures to structural inclusion. In 2019, the party began observing the anniversaries of Dr Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram, and installed Ambedkar’s bust alongside that of Ram Manohar Lohia at its headquarters.
On December 6 last year, it also announced to observe Ambedkar’s Parinirvan Diwas (death anniversary) across the state on a grand scale.
The SP’s PDA plank focusing on backward classes, Dalits and minorities has become central to its political messaging. The strategy paid dividends in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when the SP won 37 seats and emerged as the third-largest party in Parliament.
