"Contest Between Baba Saheb And 'Baba' Followers": Akhilesh Yadav Targets Yogi In Uttar Pradesh Bypoll Campaign

Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav said that there is a contest between followers of B R Ambedkar, also known as (aka) Baba Saheb and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, aka 'Baba'.

"This is a fight between those who believe in Baba Saheb and those who believe in 'Baba'. On one side are those who make and protect the Constitution; on the other side are those who destroy it," he said.

Sharing a video of his cutout placed in front of Ambedkar's, Yadav said on X, "So far the Constitution has protected the PDA; now the PDA will protect the Constitution! Proclaim 'Unity'. Jai Constitution, Jai PDA!"

PDA is a term coined by Yadav to expand his voter base among Backwards (Pichhde), Dalits, tribals (Adivasis) and minorities (Alpasankhyak). It helped him become the third-largest party in the country in the 2024 elections.

The remarks come on the last day of campaigning for the nine assembly seats in UP, scheduled to vote in bypolls on 20 November. Eight of them were vacated due to the election of MLAs to the Lok Sabha.

One seat was vacated due to the conviction of then-sitting SP MLA Irfan Solanki in an arson case. The SP then fielded his wife Naseem Solanki for the bypolls. Similarly, relatives of SP leaders have been fielded in other seats as well.

Yadav campaigned in Katehari of Ambedkar Nagar on Monday (18 November) seeking votes for Ambedkar Nagar MP Lalji Verma's wife Shobhawati Verma and appealed to women voters.

Katehari is the most focused seat of both SP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Senior leader and Akhilesh's uncle Shivpal Yadav and Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh were managing polls for SP and BJP respectively.