LUCKNOW, July 15 -- The Samajwadi Party (SP) is planning to field nearly 100 Dalit candidates in the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, including on unreserved general seats, in a strategic shift aimed at broadening its social base and strengthening its PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) plank. Party insiders said the move is part of a deliberate attempt to move beyond its traditional Muslim-Yadav (MY) support base and project itself as a broader social coalition. While the SP-Congress alliance largely restricted Dalit candidates to reserved constituencies in the 2022 assembly elections, it broke new ground in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls by fielding Dalit candidates from high-profile general seats such as Faizabad and Meerut. According to sources, the SP believes nominating Dalit and OBC candidates on general seats, even in difficult constituencies, can create a "ripple effect" in neighbouring segments by consolidating anti-BJP votes. Of Uttar Pradesh's 403 assembly constituencies, 84 are reserved for Scheduled Castes. In the 2022 elections, the SP alliance won only 20 reserved seats, while the BJP-led NDA swept most of the remaining constituencies. The proposed strategy marks a departure from that approach. A senior SP leader, requesting anonymity, said, "Our focus will be on strengthening the PDA combination, which worked for us in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Candidates from these communities will get preference, and we are actively considering fielding Dalit and OBC candidates on general seats as well." Citing Sarojininagar, a BJP stronghold, the leader said, "Even if a Pasi candidate does not win there, the candidature could influence adjoining constituencies such as Malihabad and Bakshi Ka Talab. We are identifying seats where this strategy can become a game-changer." Senior journalist Ratan Mani Lal said integrating Dalits into the SP's support base has remained a challenge since the party's inception because of historical tensions between Dalits and dominant OBC groups, particularly Yadavs. The divide deepened after the collapse of the SP-BSP alliance in the 1990s. "Akhilesh Yadav has realised this gap and is trying to bridge it," Lal said. "Whether Dalits see this as genuine outreach or political calculation remains to be seen. It is a calculated gamble to expand beyond the M-Y vote bank and position the party as a broader multi-caste force ahead of 2027." The SP's renewed Dalit outreach follows its improved performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where the PDA strategy helped it mount a stronger challenge to the BJP in several regions. With ticket distribution for the 2027 assembly polls expected to begin in the coming months, the final decision will rest with the party's top leadership. The BJP, however, dismissed the SP's outreach, alleging the party has a history of "atrocities" against Dalits. "Whenever the Samajwadi Party was in power, it committed the most atrocities against Dalits. It encroached upon their lands. They even insulted and attacked BSP chief Mayawati. Who can forget this? It was the SP that changed the names of districts and institutions named after Dalit icons. Even if the Samajwadi Party does penance for 100 years, its sins will not be washed away. As far as Dalits and OBCs are concerned, they hold top posts in the BJP's organisational structure," said UP BJP spokesperson Anand Dubey. Political observers say the success of the strategy will depend not only on the number of tickets allotted to Dalit candidates but also on whether the SP can strengthen Dalit leadership at the grassroots and address the long-standing perception of Yadav dominance within the organisation. As the contest for the 2027 assembly elections gathers pace, the SP's experiment with wider Dalit representation could reshape caste equations in Uttar Pradesh....