LUCKNOW: In an emphatic Brahmin outreach, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said the letters ‘PD’ in the acronym PDA is a short form for Pandits.Since its defeat by the PDA, BJP keeps coming up with a new full form for the acronym, but has forgotten that in PDA the letters PD are the short form for Pandits, Akhilesh said after paying tributes to socialist thinker and SP co-founder Janeshwar Mishra on his birth anniversary in Lucknow.The SP chief had coined the acronym PDA in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha which originally stood for Pichrde (backwards), Dalits and Alpsankhyaks (minorities) – the core voter base of the party. The move worked and SP won 37 seats in the elections – its highest Lok Sabha tally. Earlier, from time to time, the party modified PDA to accommodate ‘Aadhi Abadi’ (women) and Agarde (upper castes) and Peerdit (exploited).Akhilesh’s statement was received with cheers and applause by thousands of cadres and functionaries present at the jam-packed party headquarters lawns. Akhilesh said Pandits have been a part of the PDA because the community too had been subjected to extreme peerda (pain) for long by the BJP govt.Recalling instances where Brahmins were at the receiving end, Akhilesh referred to the Sept 2023 murder of Dr Ghanshyam Tiwari, a doctor at community health centre, in Sultanpur allegedly by a local muscleman Ajai Narain Singh, who was also said to be a BJP member. “Those who remember the sensational murder will recall the allegations that a drill machine was used by the accused to torture the doctor to death,” Akhilesh said. He then referred to gangster Vikas Dubey who was arrested in Madhya Pradesh for police party ambush in which eight policemen were shot dead in Kanpur. On July 10, 2020 Vikas was being transported back to Uttar Pradesh when the police vehicle carrying him overturned following an alleged escape attempt in which Dubey was shot dead. “Everyone knows why the vehicle overturned,” Akhilesh said, adding that had Vikas Dubey survived, he would have revealed uncomfortable facts for BJP govt.Akhilesh also recalled how Swami Avimukteshwaranand was stopped from taking a holy dip at Sangam during Magh Mela and how Batuks (Brahmin disciples) were humiliated at the same event.Recalling Janeshwar Mishra’s commitment towards socialist ideology, Akhilesh said. “Park named after Chhote Lohia is bigger than the Lohia park,” Akhilesh said to underline that SP has always celebrated Brahman leaders in the party.
