AKHILESH WIDENS HIS PARTY'S TENT

A pronounced Dalit tilt is the new script for the SP chief. The BSP and BJP, both rivals for that space, watch with alarm as the party rouses the rabble

- By Avaneesh Mishra

THE SAMAJWADI PARTY HAS NEVER ERRED MUCH ON THE side of subtlety. But its recent self-positioning bristles with such audacity—and in such a conscious direction—that a blueprint can be discerned. A series of remarks by its Dalit leaders has lit up Uttar Pradesh’s charged political and social landscape with frequent sparks of outrage. Strikingly, however, instead of distancing itself, the party has doubled down on these statements. This combative stance suggests less a case of random, off-the-cuff remarks, more a strategic charge aimed at reshaping UP’s fragmented political landscape into a two-way contest, with the SP as the principal challenger to the BJP.