LUCKNOW, Aug. 5 -- Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday appeared to recalibrate his party's social outreach by declaring that the "P" in the much-touted PDA formula now stands for "Pandit", while also launching a sharp attack on the BJP over the alleged theft of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya. The twin pitch came as part of an apparent effort to strengthen the party's outreach to the Brahmin community ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

Addressing a Prabuddh Sammelan (intellectuals' conference) at the party headquarters to mark the birth anniversary of SP ideologue Janeshwar Mishra, Yadav said, "Critics who invent new expansions of PDA after electoral setbacks should know that the 'P' in PDA stand...