The Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) has roped in political consultancy firm I-PAC to handle its campaign for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, highly placed sources in the party said.Sources in both camps confirmed that the deal was finalised earlier this month in Delhi and that the I-PAC — co-founded by Jan Suraaj leader Prashant Kishor — will begin work for the SP after the upcoming elections in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.Advertisement“Most of our workforce is currently concentrated in West Bengal for the Assembly polls,” a senior I-PAC functionary told The Indian Express. “While initial meetings (with the SP) have been held, most of the work will begin in Uttar Pradesh only after the Bengal elections. One of our directors Vinesh Chandel will head the team there.”The I-PAC is currently working with the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) for theBengal polls. It has earlier managed the electoral campaigns for multiple parties across the country’s political spectrum, including the JD(U) in Bihar (2015), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi (2020 and 2025), BJP (for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls), Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena in Maharashtra (2019), Congress in UP (2017), TMC (2024), DMK in Tamil Nadu (2021), and YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh (2019 and 2024).AdvertisementAccording to SP sources, during the recent Budget session of the UP Assembly, Akhilesh had arranged for an interaction between an I-PAC representative and party MLAs. “I do not remember the name of the person from I-PAC but he was aware of how frequently SP MLAs use social media platforms and the posts they put up. The focus of the meeting was social media. We have been told I-PAC will help us for the 2027 polls and help us in our campaign as well,” said an MLA, who attended this meeting.Another SP MLA said that the legislators were urged to focus on highlighting development and welfare works in their constituencies through social media posts instead of criticising rivals. “We were cautioned against posting AI-generated posts that we get on WhatsApp. We were also told that the party’s stand and campaign material would be provided to us on WhatsApp and were told to post only that on our social media,” the MLA added.you may likeAn I-PAC source confirmed that the SP’s social media campaign would be handled by the consultancy. “In this day and age, where fake news travels fast on social media and the BJP uses it to its advantage, we will focus on mitigating it. Detailed plans are being chalked out at the levels of the state, districts, and Assembly constituencies in consultation with the SP,” the source added.Also Read | Yogi out of the country, Akhilesh repeats offer to BJP leaders in UP: ‘Come with 100 MLAs, become the CM’Another source pointed to the firm’s previous campaigns. “In Andhra, though the YSRCP lost the polls, we almost always set the narrative through social media. We plan to do the same in Uttar Pradesh as well. However, we are aware that being on the ground is essential and we will extensively hit the ground after the Bengal polls,” the source said.The SP had last formed the government in UP in 2012, winning 224 of the 403 seats with a 29.13% vote share. It lost power in 2017 to the BJP, when its vote share dipped to 21.8% and its tally dropped to 47 seats. In 2022, the BJP returned to power in the state for second consecutive term comfortably, even as the SP improved its performance, garnering a vote share of 32% and winning 111 seats.