NEW DELHI: With Uttar Pradesh heading towards Assembly elections in 2027, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appears to be adopting a Bihar-style electoral strategy by repeatedly reminding voters of the Samajwadi Party’s (SP) previous rule under Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The BJP’s emerging campaign is increasingly focused on alleged lawlessness, communal riots, corruption, nepotism and what it describes as the SP government’s failure to maintain law and order before 2017. The strategy draws parallels with the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) campaign in Bihar, where memories of the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) ‘Jungle Raj’ were repeatedly invoked ahead of the 2025 Assembly elections.
At a rally in Bithoor, Kanpur, recently, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath devoted a significant portion of his address to attacking the previous SP government. He accused the party of encouraging communal appeasement, corruption, family politics and lawlessness.
In a widely circulated statement, Adityanath said, “SP means riots, SP means corruption, SP means nepotism and playing with the future of the youth.”
He also accused the SP of supporting mafia elements and rioters, while contrasting its previous tenure with his government’s emphasis on religious infrastructure, temples and law and order.
The BJP has further intensified its campaign through social media posts and promotional material comparing the SP government’s tenure with the BJP administration since 2017. These comparisons include issues such as the law-and-order situation, action against alleged mafia properties, infrastructure development, tourism and religious affairs.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has also invoked the events of October 30, 1990, when police opened fire on kar sevaks in Ayodhya during the Mulayam Singh Yadav government. Shah questioned Akhilesh Yadav’s political position on the issue, contrasting the incident with the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
BJP Defends Its Strategy
The BJP has rejected suggestions that its repeated references to the SP’s previous government indicate a lack of fresh achievements to present before voters.
Party spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said the BJP was placing a comparative assessment of the two governments before the public, highlighting changes in electricity supply, expressways, airports, medical colleges and law and order.
According to the BJP, voters should compare Uttar Pradesh before 2017 with the state’s development and governance under the Adityanath government.
Samajwadi Party Hits Back
The Samajwadi Party, however, has criticised the BJP’s approach, arguing that the ruling party is repeatedly referring to its past because it has little to showcase on its own performance.
SP Rajya Sabha MP Javed Ali said the BJP’s strategy of repeatedly invoking history had run its course, adding that voters were not necessarily accepting the narrative.
SP spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan also accused the BJP of attempting to communalise the election discourse instead of addressing issues such as education, healthcare and employment.
The Bihar Connection
The BJP’s approach closely resembles the NDA’s campaign strategy in Bihar in 2025, when the alliance repeatedly highlighted the RJD’s previous tenure under Lalu Prasad Yadav and its ‘Jungle Raj’ narrative.
Despite Nitish Kumar having remained in power for nearly two decades, a substantial part of the NDA’s campaign focused on reminding voters of the RJD’s earlier rule.
The strategy sought to balance the challenge of anti-incumbency by presenting a comparison between the previous opposition government and the incumbent administration.
In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP is attempting a similar approach by bringing the SP’s past governance back into the centre of political debate.
With the BJP seeking a third consecutive term and the SP attempting to consolidate its political base, the 2027 Assembly election is likely to witness an intense contest over governance, law and order, caste equations, religious identity and development.
