UP CM Yogi Adityanath Calls Samajwadi Party a Curse for Uttar Pradesh at Gonda Event
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched a sharp attack on the Samajwadi Party (SP) on Monday, calling the opposition party a curse for Uttar Pradesh and alleging that whenever it came to power, the state saw crime, anarchy, riots and chaos. Speaking at a public meeting in Gonda, where he inaugurated and laid foundation stones for 69 development projects worth more than Rs 520 crore, the Chief Minister said the BJP stood for respect for faith and for change, while the SP and Congress stood for crime. He asked young people, many of whom he said were 15 or younger when the SP was last in office, to ask their parents what riots and curfews were like in those years.
Adityanath alleged that under SP governments, Durga Puja pandals were dragged into disputes and permission for worship was denied, and that the Kanwar Yatra was not allowed to pass through western Uttar Pradesh on the claim that it would lead to riots. He said women did not feel safe during those years, that curfews were frequent, and that disturbances often erupted before festivals. By contrast, he said, the state has not witnessed communal riots under the BJP government and people have celebrated Durga Puja with traditional fervour. The remarks were reported as the Chief Minister’s own statements at the Gonda meeting, made in the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections due in 2027.
The Chief Minister also returned to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, recalling that on 2 November 1990, the then SP government in Uttar Pradesh had ordered firing on Ram devotees in Ayodhya. He said the BJP government, in contrast, showered flowers on Ram devotees and paved the way for the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The reference carried particular weight at a meeting held on the anniversary of that firing, and it framed his broader argument that the BJP’s approach to faith and to Ayodhya’s development stood in direct contrast to the SP’s record in office.
Alongside the political attack, Adityanath used the Gonda programme to underline his government’s development agenda for the region. The 69 projects inaugurated or foundation-laid at the event, worth over Rs 520 crore, were presented as part of a wider push to take development to every district of the state, including eastern Uttar Pradesh districts such as Gonda. He said development that was once confined to a few favoured places now reaches all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh, and he linked the progress of Ayodhya with the progress of neighbouring regions, saying the light of Deepotsav would reach Gonda and the entire Devipatan division in the form of development.
Adityanath also announced that the tenth edition of Deepotsav will be organised in Ayodhya on 7 November, and he appealed to people to take part in the festival on the sacred land of Lord Ram. Deepotsav, the festival of lamps on the banks of the Saryu in Ayodhya, has become one of the state’s signature cultural events under the BJP government, drawing large numbers of devotees and tourists. The Chief Minister presented the coming Deepotsav not only as a religious celebration but as a driver of development for Ayodhya and for the surrounding Devipatan region, closing a speech that combined a sharp political message with announcements on projects and on the festival calendar.
