BJP's slogan has divided allies, alienated the public

The former UP chief minister declared that his party will win the 2027 assembly polls, attacked CM Yogi Adityanath over frequent paper leaks, and hinted at internal dissension within the ruling dispensation

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is gripped by a negative mindset that was responsible for its underwhelming performance in this summer's Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh at the hands of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and its positive slogan of PDA (pichda-dalit-alpsankhyak or backward-Dalit-minorities), former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said on Saturday, exuding confidence that the Opposition will triumph in the ongoing assembly elections and bypolls.

He was speaking at the 22nd Hindustan Times leadership summit in Delhi, where he also alleged that the BJP government was not working for the people in UP, declared his party will win the 2027 assembly polls, attacked chief minister Yogi Adityanath over frequent paper leaks, and hinted at internal dissension within the ruling dispensation.

He used the example of a recent slogan coined by Adityanath "bat-enge toh kitenge (if we're divided, we'll be cut down)" to allege that the BJP was gripped by negativity. He also likened the slogan to the British policy of divide-and-rule.

"In the history of democracy across the world, you will not find a more negative slogan. This has divided allies and alienated the public. And this is why they're losing in UP," Yadav said in conversation with NDTV's consultant editor Sumit Awasthi. "I have started cleaning the pollution in politics, and I have started from UP... employment and jobs are not on the BJP's agenda."

He was referring to the BJP's setbacks in this summer's Lok Sabha polls, when its tally in UP dropped from 62 to 33 and it finished second to the SP, which won 37 seats, its best-ever performance. The BJP lost marquee contests in Amethi and Faizabad (where Ayodhya, the home of the Ram Temple, is situated).