SP turns to I-PAC for 2027 battle, Akhilesh plans early blitz from Noida

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has engaged I-PAC to fine-tune his party's campaign at the district and booth levels

• Samajwadi Party hires I-PAC for 2027 UP poll strategy
• I-PAC teams begin ground work, meeting local leaders and workers
• Akhilesh Yadav to launch campaign with Noida rally on March 28

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Stepping up preparations for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and a direct political contest with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has engaged leading political consultancy firm I-PAC to design and execute the party’s campaign strategy across the state.

Confirming the move, SP national vice-president Kironmoy Nanda told Moneycontrol that the I-PAC team has already begun work on the ground.

“The I-PAC team has started working in Uttar Pradesh. They are meeting stakeholders at different levels, interacting with party workers, social groups and local influencers, and mapping district-wise political realities,” Nanda said. “They will help us fine-tune our campaign at the district and booth levels, suggest outreach plans, craft clear messaging and even coin catchy slogans that connect with people’s everyday issues. The focus is on taking the party’s message to the last voter and building a strong ground connect well before the elections.”

Prashant Kishor founded the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), which is currently led by Pratik Jain, who is serving as a key strategist and leader.

Party sources said I-PAC teams have begun informal consultations with local leaders in several districts to identify weak pockets and potential swing areas. Feedback from these interactions will be used to redesign the party’s narrative on issues such as unemployment, law and order and rising prices.

Party insiders said M K Stalin and Mamata Banerjee had advised Akhilesh to engage I-PAC for the high stakes contest.

According to sources, Akhilesh first met I-PAC team members including Jain in New Delhi in December 2025. Jain held another round of talks during Akhilesh’s recent visit to West Bengal, following which the Samajwadi Party finalised the engagement.

Political analyst Vijay Sharma said the decision to bring in a professional election management firm I-PAC reflects the Samajwadi Party’s attempt to institutionalise its recent gains.

“The SP is clearly trying to scale up the success it tasted in the last Lok Sabha elections. There is a sense that professional inputs helped convert anger on the ground into votes,” Sharma said. “The early start to the Assembly campaign also indicates that the party does not want to lose momentum.”

Party leaders confirm that Akhilesh Yadav will kick off party’s campaign from Noida on March 28 with a PDA participation rally -almost a year ahead of the Assembly elections. Party insiders believe the choice of Noida, part of the politically sensitive western Uttar Pradesh belt, is a strategic call to signal seriousness and early mobilisation.

A senior SP leader said the party is pushing for aggressive ground mobilisation rather than relying only on social media outreach.

“If Akhilesh hits the roads, no one can stop us from winning the election,” the leader said. “Twitter posts and press conferences will not win us elections. We have to be on the ground, in villages and mohallas, listening to people and solving their problems. The message from the top leadership is clear that this will be a people-to-people campaign.”

For Akhilesh, the 2027 contest is being seen within the party as a do or die battle. After the gains in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he is pushing for an all out effort to return to power in Uttar Pradesh. Apart from roping in multiple agencies, party office bearers have been asked to intensify contact with booth level workers and submit detailed ground reports.

In the 2022 Assembly elections, the Samajwadi Party won 111 seats but fell far short of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s tally of 255 seats. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the party won 37 seats, a performance leaders cite as a morale booster. Akhilesh has stepped up attacks on the BJP government over law and order, corruption and unemployment, and has been directly targeting the chief minister.

I-PAC has previously worked for several political parties. When Prashant Kishore was at the helm of affairs he had crafted the Congress campaign in Uttar Pradesh in 2017 with the slogan 27 saal UP behaal. However, the campaign was later curtailed after the Samajwadi Party and Congress entered into an alliance. The Congress managed to win only seven seats, while the Samajwadi Party was reduced to 47 seats in that election.

Sharma, the political analyst, believes that sustained field presence, coupled with data-driven targeting and sharper messaging suggested by I-PAC, will help the party convert organisational effort into electoral gains in 2027.