File photo of Samajwadi Party National President Akhilesh Yadav. | Photo credit: ANI
With the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh less than a year away, the main opposition parties in the state, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress, have started meetings and rallies targeting ‘Samanta’ (equality), ‘bhaichara’ (brotherhood) and ‘Sadhbhavna’ (harmony) by naming their respective rallies and meetings.
While the SP organized a rally called ‘Samajwadi Samanta Bhaichara Rally’ in Dadri, Western UP on Sunday (March 29, 2026) to bridge social fault lines, the Congress is organizing ‘Sadhbhavna Baithak’ (harmony meetings) and ‘Samvidhan Samvad’ (Constitution Promotion and State Commun Harmony Conference).
The broader objective, party leaders said, as the names of the meetings suggest, is to promote greater unity among the backward, Dalit and minority communities under the social justice and secular umbrella.
Speaking in Dadri, Mr. Yadav said PDA communities will form the next government in Uttar Pradesh, promoting social justice and adding a rightful claim to dignity and honor are paramount. PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpasankhyak) stands for Backwards, Dalit and Minority is a recurring plank idea of Akhilesh Yadav which aims to create a social coalition of these groups.
“Social justice, secularism and equality are the pillars on which the Samajwadi Party’s socialist movement is based, we have tried to fully implement these ideas when we are in government, so it is natural that our campaign before the assembly polls will focus on these ideas, we want to create a better UP based on these pillars,” SP spokesperson Ram Pratap Singh said.
“The themes of ‘Samanta’, ‘Bhaichara’ and ‘Sadbhavna’ reflect the widely accepted constitutional values of equality, brotherhood and harmony. Framing the assembly around these ideas suggests an attempt to foreground social justice and inclusive coexistence. It suggests an effort to engage various social groups, especially those historically more associated with secular movements, within a shared or narrow appeal. Nasser Salim, SP spokesperson.
Similarly, the Congress held a ‘Sadhbhavna Baithak’ (harmony meeting) which was also attended by state president Ajay Rai last week in Lucknow, who championed the cause of social harmony and mutual brotherhood, asserting that the present government has destroyed the unity of society by creating a Hindu-Muslim divide and emphasized the need for unity between the two communities.
Similarly, last week, the grand old party organized a meeting called “Samvidhan Samvad aur Karykarta Samman sammelan” (Constitution Conference and Workers’ Honor Conference) where the leaders asserted that protection of the Constitution is paramount and Dalits and other oppressed sections are being punished by the ruling regime. The meeting held in Barabanki was attended by top state officials, including Mr. Rai.
“The fact is that BJP’s aim is to change the constitution, it was reflected in their 2024 Lok Sabha campaign, they want a Manusmriti government, so we are sensitizing and presenting the real motive of BJP to the public, similarly, it is equally true that Muslims were on the receiving end of BJP, through the Muslim machinery, which Muslims hated the most. targeted attacks based on bulldozing injustice, so we are reaching out to these sections through smaller meetings and conferences, these meetings they will continue to cover communities,” said UP Congress leader Anil Yadav.
Published – 31 March 2026 10:19 IST
