Chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s claim that 1.27 crore Hindu voters’ names are missing from electoral rolls, along with his assertion that the number of Muslim voters has increased, and his repeated appeal for Hindu unity under the ‘Batenge toh Katenge’ narrative, have brought Hindutva back to the centre of Uttar Pradesh politics ahead of the 2027 assembly elections.
Adityanath reiterated his 80:20 formulation while talking to a private news channel in Ayodhya, projecting 80% of voters as supporters of the NDA’s agenda of governance and security and the remaining 20% as backing the Opposition’s PDA politics. The slogan, which was perhaps first used during the 2024 Maharashtra assembly election campaign, has since become part of his broader appeal for Hindu unity. His announcement that he would visit the Ram Temple in Ayodhya with his family on December 12 is seen as the latest indication of his attempt to shed the party’s anti-Hindu image. It will be his first visit to the temple since its consecration in January 2024.
Coming alongside Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s efforts to broaden his party’s Hindu appeal and recent statements by Congress leaders on the Babri mosque demolition and Diwali, these developments point to a renewed contest over issues revolving around religious identity in the state. He also described PDA as ‘Parivar Development Authority’. The chief minister has sought to add another dimension to his political narrative by repeatedly raising the issue of the alleged deletion of Hindu voters from electoral rolls following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). “The deletion of a large number of Hindu voters is certainly a matter of concern for all of us. SP chief and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, meanwhile, appears to be making his own efforts to counter the BJP’s Hindutva narrative.
The CM was just giving vent to this common concern by urging party workers and office-bearers to keep a close watch on electoral rolls while addressing the state executive meeting here last month,” senior BJP leader Harish Chandra Srivastava said.
Earlier, Adityanath invoked his ‘Batenge toh Katenge’ (divided, we will be cut) slogan, warning Hindus against divisions along caste lines. However, Uttar Pradesh Congress president Aradhana Mishra on Tuesday said the concern raised by CM Yogi Adityanath over the deletion of voters’ names in the state was an endorsement of what Rahul Gandhi had been saying.
