After an FIR was filed against Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Farhad Alam Gada in Saharanpur district for allegedly teaching children a “politicised” version of the English alphabet, SP national president Akhilesh Yadav accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of being “anti-education.”
The complaint, filed by Main Singh of Kallarpur Gurjar village at Kotwali Dehat police station, alleged that Farhad Gada had been conducting informal lessons at a so-called “PDA Pathshala” set up at his home in Ramnagar.
The controversy erupted after a video of one such class surfaced on social media. In the footage, schoolchildren-wearing uniforms and reportedly from a private school-were seen being taught alternative alphabet associations such as: A for Akhilesh, B for Babasaheb (Ambedkar), D for Dimple (Yadav) and M for Mulayam Singh Yadav. The complaint also mentioned that comparing Babasaheb Dr BR Ambedkar to Akhilesh and Dimple was an insult to the Dalit icon.
According to police officials, the content raised concerns of political indoctrination of minors, prompting the registration of a case under relevant sections, including Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 353(2) (statements conducing to public mischief) and section 3(2)(V) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Farhad Gada, who runs the PDA Pathshala-named after the SP’s social justice plank “Pichda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak” (Backward Classes, Dalits, Minorities) plank-defended the lessons. He claimed the goal was not merely to teach ABCs but to “educate children about the great men of Samajwadi ideology” and foster political awareness from a young age. Gada also revealed his ambition to expand such schools throughout the district.
Taking to the social media platform X, Akhilesh Yadav wrote, “Even the British did not file an FIR for studying. The anti-education face of the BJP has now been exposed to the public.”