The Samajwadi Party is learnt to have decided to distance itself from political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, with party insiders citing recent electoral setbacks suffered by parties associated with the firm in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
While the Akhilesh Yadav-led party has never officially announced a formal tie-up with I-PAC, sources within the party said discussions over a possible campaign-management arrangement had been underway for months. Those talks have now reportedly been shelved.
According to party insiders, the decision gathered momentum after the recent defeats of Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal and MK Stalin in Tamil Nadu, where I-PAC was believed to be involved in election strategy and campaign management.
Sources said the SP leadership now wants to rely on its own organisational network and internal political machinery rather than outsource campaign operations to an external consultancy.
The rethink also comes amid scrutiny surrounding I-PAC earlier this year, when the Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at the consultancy’s Kolkata office and the residence of co-founder Pratik Jain as part of a money-laundering probe linked to an alleged coal smuggling case.
The raids had triggered a major political confrontation in West Bengal, with Mamata Banerjee personally visiting the I-PAC office during the searches and accusing central agencies of targeting party data and election strategy material.
According to SP insiders, the timing of those raids had already made sections of the party leadership uneasy. Sources claimed that on the very day ED officials were conducting searches at I-PAC’s Kolkata office, representatives from the consultancy were in Lucknow giving a presentation to Samajwadi Party leaders regarding a possible collaboration for the 2027 elections.
That episode, coupled with the subsequent electoral reverses in Bengal and Tamil Nadu, is said to have strengthened the view within the SP that associating too closely with I-PAC may carry political baggage.
The party, however, is unlikely to make any formal public statement on the matter. Neither the Samajwadi Party nor I-PAC has officially commented on reports of a split.
The 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election is expected to be a direct contest between the Samajwadi Party and the BJP, with Akhilesh Yadav already sharpening his attacks on the ruling party over unemployment, caste census, law and order, and farmers’ issues.
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Published By:
Priyanka Kumari
Published On:
May 6, 2026 12:32 IST
