Samajwadi Party leaders, including Akhilesh Yadav, present a ceremonial plaque to BJP leader Ram Asrey Kushwaha after his joining the party. (X/@samajwadiparty)
Former Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ram Asrey Kushwaha joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) on Thursday (September 17, 2026).
The Samajwadi Party said the joining will strengthen the party’s outreach among PDA social groups. PDA acronym stands for ‘Pichhde’ (backward classes), Dalits and ‘Alpsankhyak’ (minorities), but at times the SP leadership added other social groups to the plank.
Mr Kushwaha, a prominent leader from the Kushwaha social group, has also served as an office-bearer of ‘Kushwaha Kalyan Parishad’, a social organisation working for the social group that falls under the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) category.
He was associated with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the SP in the past. Apart from Mr. Kushwaha, many political workers from other parties, like Vijay Kumar Singh from Aligarh, Anshu Dubey from Kannauj, Anoop Kashyap Pradhan, Nishad Party district president Kannauj, and Manoj Kumar Nishad, joined the Samajwadi Party.
All of them resolved to form the Samajwadi Party government in the 2027 Assembly elections. The SP president Akhilesh Yadav welcomed all the leaders, adding that the joining will strengthen the Samajwadi Party and PDA movement.
“Mr. Kushwaha is a senior leader, the joining will strengthen the party and the PDA movement. The Samajwadi Party government will be formed after the 2027 Assembly polls, and the rule of social justice will be established,” said Mr Yadav.
“The joining of the Samajwadi Party by Ram Asrey Kushwaha, a former minister and senior OBC leader, after 13 years in the BJP is testimony that OBC leaders are feeling suffocated in the BJP. It’s a simple message that the first and foremost precondition is respect in political parties, which is lacking in the BJP for OBCs and SCs. Home coming of Kushwaha and other leaders will boost the PDA movement and provide momentum to the Samajwadi Party in consolidating votes for the 2027 Assembly elections,” said Sudhir Panwar, a senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader.
Published – September 18, 2026 06:46 am IST
