Why Akhilesh Yadav’s ‘25 paise’ remark has upset a former ally and his party

The choice of the word “chavanni” (25 paise) is being seen in RLD circles as a direct political jab at Jayant Chaudhary since it revived the political phrase used by the leader himself during the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election campaign.

On January 27, 2022, Jayant Chaudhary, while responding to the attempts made by the BJP to wean him away from the SP alliance, said: “Main koi chavanni hoon jo palat jaunga. (I am not as light as a 25 paise coin that will flip)”.

Two years later, Chaudhary, however, joined the BJP alliance, snapping ties with the SP, and was made a minister in the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

In the past, the Samajwadi Party has had allies besides RLD that walked out of the alliance. For example, Om Prakash Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), which contested the 2022 Assembly elections in alliance with the SP and won six out of eight seats it had contested. However, soon after the polls, the SBSP returned to the NDA fold of the BJP with its chief Rajbhar being appointed a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government.

RLD tries to link ‘insult’ beyond Jayant

Reacting to the SP chief’s remark, RLD national general secretary Anil Dubey said it was “not merely disrespectful towards Jayant Chaudhary but also towards farmer leader Chaudhary Ajit Singh”, his ideology and the farmers of the state.

Dubey said political opponents could differ, but they should remain mindful of the language used against each other.

RLD MLA and minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, Anil Kumar, went a step further. Calling the statement objectionable and condemnable, Kumar said it was not merely an insult to the RLD leadership but also to the ideology of Chaudhary Charan Singh and the “samyukta kisan samaj”, the entire farming community.

Kumar said the SP should not forget the contribution of the Chaudhary Charan Singh family to whatever political existence it has today. He also warned that the Samyukta Kisan Samaj would give a democratic response to the “insult” in the 2027 Assembly elections.

The reactions effectively seek to shift the political debate from Jayant Chaudhary’s decision to change alliances to the larger question of respect for the Charan Singh-Ajit Singh legacy and farmer politics.

Why the timing matters

The controversy comes as political parties in Uttar Pradesh begin preparing for the next year’s Assembly elections, where alliance arithmetic is likely to be crucial.

For the SP, the episode fits into Akhilesh Yadav‘s broader argument that the party should rely more on its PDA social coalition and voters rather than smaller parties that may change alliances. While making the remark, Akhilesh had said that his party has decided to place greater trust in the people than political parties and would continue with its PDA — Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak — strategy.

At the same time, Akhilesh has maintained that the BJP was feeling threatened by the INDIA bloc’s performance in 2024 — when the SP and Congress together won 43 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP.

The RLD, meanwhile, has to negotiate its position within the NDA that already includes parties such as Apna Dal, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party and Nishad Party. That makes seat-sharing particularly important.

In the 2017 Assembly elections, the RLD contested 277 seats and won one. Its performance improved sharply in 2022 when, as an SP ally, it contested 33 seats and won eight. In 2024, after moving to the BJP-led alliance, it won both the Lok Sabha seats it contested.

The question being asked before the 2027 state elections is therefore not merely whether the RLD remains with the NDA, but how much political and electoral space the BJP is willing to give it in an alliance with several smaller partners under its umbrella.

Recently, in a meeting with BJP national president Nitin Nabin, the RLD expressed its interest in contesting seats in east UP, apart from its traditional west UP stronghold. RLD leaders told Nabin that the party has developed an organisation in all the 18 divisions of UP, with greater focus in eastern and central areas.

The RLD, which is traditionally a Jat-centric party, is also planning an organisational overhaul ahead of the Assembly elections by offering representation to 29 most backward castes (MBCs). The 29 castes are Gosain, Kamboj, Gaderia, Darji, Ansari, Baddhai, Dhiman-Lohar, Bhurji, Kandu, Maali-Saini, Dhobi, Halwai, Jogi, Kahaar, Dhimar, Koeri, Kumhar, Mochi, Momin Ansar, Muslim Banjara, Sunaar, Bhat, Teli, Thathera, Naai, Kunjada, Natt, Biyaar and another caste group of Kahaar, Dhivar, Mallah, Kashysp.

Therefore, as political parties are preparing the ground for the next year’s polls, the “chavanni” remark has become more than a war of words between former allies. For the SP, it reinforces the narrative that political parties that benefited from its alliance later abandoned it. The RLD’s retort suggests that it is using Akhilesh’s remark to brand the SP as “anti-farmer”.