Hundreds of job aspirants from Other Backward Classes and Scheduled Castes staged a protest outside the residence of Uttar Pradesh Education Minister Sandeep Singh in Lucknow on Monday. They crawled on the ground in extreme heat to highlight delays in the recruitment of 69,000 assistant teachers. The Samajwadi Party quickly incorporated the demonstration into its “PDA Arakshan Audit” initiative ahead of the 2027 state elections.
The protest has supplied new material for SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s campaign, which seeks to promote social justice and unite non-Yadav OBCs, Most Backward Classes, Dalits and minorities under the PDA framework of Pichda, Dalit and Alpsankhyak groups.
In previous years the BJP had accused the SP government of favouring Yadavs in public sector hiring between 2012 and 2017. That claim helped the BJP gain support among non-Yadav OBCs and non-Jatav Dalits.
Yadav has now turned the issue around by releasing a booklet that accuses the BJP administration of weakening reservation rules and depriving backward communities of employment opportunities. The document claims more than 11,500 reserved posts were left unfilled in 22 recruitment drives under BJP governments.
SP leaders say the audit is intended to counter past allegations of caste-based hiring and to show that backward groups lost the most ground during BJP rule. The party plans to distribute the booklet across assembly constituencies.
The BJP has responded by expanding its own outreach to OBC voters. Recent cabinet appointments included three OBC ministers, and the state government formed an OBC Commission to review local body reservations in line with Supreme Court guidelines. The commission, led by retired Justice Ram Avatar Singh, must report within six months.
BJP allies, including the Nishad Party, have criticised the SP for what they describe as appeasement politics that harms OBC interests.
