BJP govt most corrupt: Akhilesh Yadav kicks off Samajwadi Party's poll campaign

The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday launched its booth-level campaign in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls, with party chief Akhilesh Yadav sharpening his attack on the BJP government and calling it the most corrupt dispensation in the state's history.Yadav announced the campaign at a press conference in Lucknow on Monday after a meeting with the party's organisational functionaries. He said SP district presidents and members of district executive committees would, within two weeks, publicly highlight alleged corruption and the “humiliation” of backward classes, Dalits and minorities – the PDA bloc that the party is banking on in the upcoming elections.The SP, which won 111 seats in the 2022 Assembly elections, is seeking to build on its gains in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, when it emerged as Uttar Pradesh's largest party with 37 seats. The party is looking to convert that momentum into an Assembly victory and end the BJP's decade-long rule in the state.Targeting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC), Yadav accused the BJP government of “selling” government institutions. His remarks came after Adityanath accused Yadav and his family of “looting” the JPNIC and alleged irregularities in its construction. “You have sold the JPNIC for an amount that an industrialist would earn only from its parking,” Yadav said, claiming Uttar Pradesh had never seen a government as corrupt as the present BJP dispensation.Yadav also accused the government of shutting around 26,000 government schools and said the SP would organise programmes at these schools on Teachers' Day on September 5. He alleged that government institutions were being handed over or sold and claimed even industrialists were unhappy with the way the economy was being run. Ahead of the polls, Yadav also questioned the proposed revision of electoral rolls, alleging that the BJP government was working in “collusion” with the Election Commission to manipulate voter lists.He further accused the Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force of being a “caste-based torture force” and alleged continued harassment of PDA communities. Yadav said fake encounters would be investigated if the SP returned to power.The SP chief also alleged that AI-generated videos were being used to target him and his wife, Mainpuri MP Dimple Yadav. He expressed confidence that a PDA government would be formed in Uttar Pradesh after the 2027 polls.- Ends(with inputs from PTI)Published By: Prateek ChakrabortyPublished On: Sep 1, 2026 10:02 IST