By Dev Sagar Singh
July 23,2025
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If the BJP-led NDA under Prime Minister Narendra Modi exudes confidence in ruling the country beyond 2029 when the next parliamentary elections will be due, it is much on account of its reliance on voters of Uttar Pradesh (UP), the largest state of the country with 80 Lok Sabha seats.
Pertinently, however, the groundwork rests on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who, despite courting controversies, continues to forge ahead in popularity. Come 2027, the saffron clad monk will be again required to prove his mettle in the state assembly polls. If successful in forming the government again, he will be performing a hat trick none of his predecessors did in the political history of UP. So what makes him tick even after eight years of uninterrupted reign?
Apart from the fact that Yogi , 53, has become the Hindutva poster boy, he now seems to be relying more on governance, law and order, infrastructure development, upliftment of rural economy and , of course, social engineering. The first term (2017—2022) of his rule was characterized by taking the bull by the horns literally—law and order being his topmost priority. He took on the ganglords (bahubalis) who sought to be laws unto themselves and terrorized people. Steering through maze of legal and other challenges, Yogi saw to it that the gangsters either bowed to his diktats or faced elimination in encounters. This endeared the CM greatly and, indeed, helped him win the second term.
Once into his second innings (2022 onwards), Yogi , helped by the Centre, engaged in infrastructure creation like construction of roads and highways, waterways , inviting private investments seeking to create employment opportunities for the skilled , unskilled and semi-skilled labour force. Apart from improved law and order, he may not have much to showcase in tangible terms, but people began to trust him and his bona fides. Corruption in government deals is now less talked about. Welfare schemes like UP widow pension scheme, old age pension scheme, UP Shramik Bharan Poshan Yojna (for labourers in harness) and even UP pension scheme for ‘Triple Talaq’ victims pushed up his popularity. Aided by central schemes like Pradhan Mantri rural housing scheme for the poor and Ujjawala yojna helped the BJP in the state ride to power both in the assembly and the Lok Sabha elections.
Now Yogi is focusing on rural economy. Two days ago, he announced what is called Adarsh Gaushala Scheme under which self-sustaining models of cow shelters will be set up in various towns and urban pockets. Free roaming cattle had become a menace for farmers and the Yogi government had come under attack on this front. These gaushalas will be initially set up in: Ayodhya, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Chitrakoot, Bareilly, Agra , Kanpur and Jhansi. They will be replicated in other places subsequently.
Yogi also announced setting up of natural farming hubs in several rural areas under ‘Gram Urja model’ apparently based on cowdung manure . The state government has taken steps for agri exports on spot cash through digital payments. Cane growers were crying against late payments by sugar mills in earlier regimes. He has tackled this issue through negotiations with mill owners.
Although the BJP’s political strategy is largely devised by the central team of party strategists, Yogi has not entirely left it to them. On the contrary, he resists any domination by marked men sent from the national party headquarters. This often puts him on a confrontation mode but ultimately he prevails, according to political observers.
Micromanaging caste and community voting in elections has been the forte of any ruling party in this state. The BJP has wrested this successfully in UP. Much of this work again rests on Yogi’s shoulders. While non-Yadav upper caste Hindus are largely with the BJP, now a large section of OBC and dalits also reportedly gravitated towards the saffron party. It is said Yogi Adityanath has played a stellar role in achieving this feat. As a result, the Samajwadi Party (SP), the main opponent, is weakened considerably. Congress, once the principal force in this state, is nowhere in calculation. Mayawati’s BSP has lost its sheen already.
Yogi and his Hindutva supporters have polarized the political atmosphere in the state. Th ongoing “kanwar yatra” (worshippers of Shiva) is being touted as a huge success for Yogi, further polarizing the scene. The BJP and the CM saw to it that the Mahakumbh held a few months ago brought them laurels, a major stampede claiming many lives, notwithstanding.
An otherwise short-tempered ascetic CM may not be popular among politicians , including from his own fold, and bureaucrats for his brash manner and quarrelsome nature. But there is no lack of popular support for him. His party men acknowledge that CM Yogi Adityanath wrested the CM’s seat by dint of his own guts and following in 2017. There has been no
going back since.
(The author is a senior journalist based in New Delhi)
