Lucknow, March 27 -- In what appears to be a calculated move to break a political jinx and expand the party's footprint beyond its traditional strongholds ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party will kickstart its political campaign from Dadri (Gautam Buddha Nagar) with a "Samajwadi Samanta Bhaichara Rally" on March 29. The Samajwadi Party national president said his party will achieve historic results in the region where it was once considered "weak". The choice of venue - the urban heart of Gautam Buddha Nagar district in Western Uttar Pradesh - marks a significant departure from tradition. During the Samajwadi Party government's tenure (2012-2017), it was said that the then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav avoided visiting Noida due to a jinx that any sitting CM who visited Noida lost their subsequent election. Rajkumar Bhati, senior Samajwadi Party leader and the party's national spokesperson, has been tasked with arranging the rally scheduled for March 29 at Mihir Bhoj College ground in Dadri. The event is expected to focus on the party's PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) formula, a social coalition of backward castes, Dalits and minorities that propelled the SP to 111 seats in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and an impressive 37 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Answering a question about the choice of region for the rally, Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday said, "The place from where we are starting our rally, people usually say is the Samajwadi Party's weakest region. But we have a Rajya Sabha MP, MLC and other key leaders from that particular region. This time, we aim to achieve the best results from that region, which is why we are starting our campaign in the West." The Samajwadi Party has had a complex relationship with Noida as a campaign launchpad. A long-standing political superstition - the "Noida jinx" - holds that any chief minister or top leader who visits the city loses power within six months. The belief dates back to 1988 when then chief minister Vir Bahadur Singh's visit preceded his exit. In 2017 and 2022, Akhilesh Yadav consciously avoided launching campaigns from Noida, choosing other districts instead (Chitrakoot for the 2022 campaign kickoff). Despite steering clear of the jinx, the party failed to return to power in both elections. The last time the SP made a major foray into Noida was during the 2012 campaign when it kicked off its second phase of polling activities here. The outcome was historic: Mulayam Singh Yadav's party secured a landslide victory, winning 224 seats and installing Akhilesh as the youngest chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Many within the party now see the 2026 Noida rally as an attempt to recreate that 2012 magic while deliberately breaking the jinx to signal a new beginning. "We have already held meetings in 32 districts so far. The main aim of the rally is to further strengthen the Samajwadi Party in the West. This kicks off the 2027 election campaign," SP leader Rajkumar Bhati said, "The administration has granted all the required permissions. The helipad is ready. Our party president Akhilesh Yadav will attend the rally," Bhati added. The Western UP region, comprising districts like Gautam Buddha Nagar, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar, has historically been a BJP bastion, bolstered by alliances with Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and strongholds among Jats and Gujjars....