In a significant political turnaround, the Samajwadi Party (SP) led by Akhilesh Yadav achieved its best-ever performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, securing 37 of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh. This seven-fold increase from its five-seat tally in 2019 marked a dramatic resurgence. The SP, leading the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh, played a pivotal role in reducing the ruling BJP to 33 seats from 62 in 2019, while the SP-Congress alliance won 43 seats overall.
This electoral success stems from the SP’s strategic expansion beyond its traditional Muslim-Yadav (MY) vote bank to include non-Yadav OBCs, Dalits, and Muslims, a coalition named PDA. Yadav’s demand for a caste census and the subsequent PDA-caste census bus yatra solidified this base. The SP’s vote share in Uttar Pradesh soared to 33.59% from 18.11% in 2019, following a robust performance in the 2022 assembly elections where their vote share was 32.1%.
Akhilesh Yadav’s astute leadership in the INDIA bloc’s seat-sharing arrangements allowed the SP to contest 62 seats, granting 17 to Congress and one to the Trinamool Congress. His focus on social justice, youth, and employment, while sidelining BJP’s Hindutva rhetoric, resonated with voters. The SP’s candidate selection mirrored its inclusive approach, fielding 27 non-Yadav OBCs, five Yadav family members, 15 Dalits, four Muslims, and 11 upper caste leaders. Despite criticisms, this inclusive strategy propelled the SP to unprecedented electoral heights.
