Days after tussle with Congress over Assembly seat sharing in Madhya Pradesh, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has called for formation of a new Opposition front—PDA.
He said PDA would remain focused on backward classes and Dalits.
The development comes amid a friction between the SP and the Congress within the INDIA bloc.
As per reports, during a public meeting on Monday, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister trained his guns on the BJP and one-time ally Congress, and expressed hope that both parties would be defeated by a coalition of smaller parties under the PDA umbrella in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“The country needs a new ideology, a new party and a new alliance. We hope that PDA will form an alliance and both NDA and Congress will lose,” Akhilesh Yadav said at a rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh, as quoted by news agency PTI.
Sharpening his attack on the Congress, Yadav said the grand old party is known for its double-speak and acts as the “B-team of the BJP”.
He termed Congress a chaalu (cunning) party and appealed to the crowd against voting for them.
“Congress doesn’t want Samajwadi Party as its alliance partner. They have been speaking out against [INDIA ally] Aam Aadmi Party. Congress had the chance to tie up and move forward with smaller parties but they think the common people are standing with them. PDA will give them a befitting reply,” he said.
Yadav, who also addressed a rally in Katni, said the ruling BJP and opposition Congress were the same and both parties had indulged in corruption and loot in Madhya Pradesh.
He further accused both parties of betraying Dalits and tribals. "They have ensured that Dalits and tribal people remain poor and have also not given 27 per cent reservation to the Other Backward Classes (OBC),” he added.
His attack came a day after he alleged that the Congress had stopped caste census and implementation of the Mandal Commission report in the past, and that the BJP was taking a similar stand.
