Why SP is stepping up to mark Kanwar Yatra: ‘PDA' banners to Mulayam, Akhilesh photos

Indian Express

2 days ago

The Samajwadi Party (SP) has been going all out to take on the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh in the run-up to the 2027 Assembly polls. While a trust headed by SP president Akhilesh Yadav is engaged in the construction of the Kedareshwar Mahadev Temple in Etawah district — with several similarities to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya — party workers are now also taking part in Kanwar Yatra.
The SP has sought to give its own touch to the Kanwar Yatra, which is one of the main religious events in North India every year, involving many devotees from UP. The SP workers have got pictures of Akhilesh and party founder late Mulayam Singh Yadav as well as slogans pasted on kanwars — the containers with holy water from the Ganges that the devotees carry back home after undertaking the yatra.
On July 16, a group of 15 SP workers started the Kanwar Yatra from Haridwar in Uttarakhand. They will be travelling to a Shiva temple in Noida in a vehicle with a music system and large banners stating: 'Samajwadi PDA dwara vishal Kanwar Yatra (SP PDA's majestic Kanwar Yatra)'.
On Friday, Akhilesh posted a video of the SP workers' Kanwar journey, with a message that the party has been praying for for public welfare. This messaging is in line with his PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpasankhyak) outreach, aimed at reaching out to the backward classes, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and minorities.
Noida-based SP leader Praveen Yadav, who is supervising this Kanwar Yatra, said the BJP's followers often take part in such a Yatra with photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. He, however, claimed that 'There is no politics behind our Kanwar Yatra. It is a matter of faith only.'
The SP's strategy is aimed at countering allegations of 'minority appeasement' levelled against it by the BJP. The ruling party has repeatedly accused the SP of allegedly 'ignoring the interests of Hindu devotees for the appeasement of Muslims'.
SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said: 'This is a reply to BJP which claims that only it has association with such religious programmes. Yatra is a matter of faith and everyone can participate in it. BJP uses Kanwar Yatra only for political purposes.'
Chaudhary said that SP workers were starting their Kanwar Yatra from Haridwar under the supervision of party national secretary S N Sachan. 'They are SP workers and doing it in favour of the party and PDA in their own capacity. Party's Muslim workers are welcoming them and offering them refreshments,' he added.
Earlier this week, the SP's Kairana MP Iqra Hasan attended a Kanwar Yatra camp in Saharanpur in west UP, wore a saffron scarf and served meals to devotees.
On July 7, at a press conference in Lucknow, Akhilesh said he would construct a dedicated corridor for the movement of devotees undertaking the Kanwar Yatra in the event of the SP coming to power. He also alleged that the BJP dispensation has not made adequate arrangements for the Kanwariyas.
'They (BJP government) are constructing a Gorakhpur link (road) by spending Rs 7,000 crore. But they cannot develop a corridor with Rs 1,000 crore for Kanwariyas,' Akhilesh said.
A day later, UP Deputy CM and senior BJP leader Keshav Prasad Maurya accused the previous SP-led administrations of firing on 'Ram bhakts' and lathicharging 'Shiv bhakts'.
The Etawah temple is nearing completion in the next six months, ahead of the 2027 state Assembly polls. The temple is spread across about 11 acres of land in the heart of the Yadav belt and is already attracting about 1,000 devotees each month.
The temple's foundation was laid by Akhilesh in 2021, seven months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi did the same for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Its consecration ceremony was led by SP MP Dimple Yadav, Akhilesh's wife, around the same time when PM Modi inaugurated the Ram Temple in January 2024.