Couldn't distinguish Ram Prasad Bismil from Bismillah Khan: Yogi takes swipe at SP

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday took a swipe at the Samajwadi Party, recalling an incident in which he claimed a former state education minister had confused revolutionary freedom fighter Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil with legendary shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan.Speaking at the Panchayat Aaj Tak event in Mathura, Yogi said the incident took place during the inauguration of a park named after Ram Prasad Bismil in Gorakhpur."When he went to deliver his speech, he did not take the name of Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil. Instead, he said he was happy to come on the occasion of Bismillah Sahib’s birthday," Yogi said.According to the chief minister, someone on the stage pointed out that the reference was incorrect and that the park was named after revolutionary Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil, not Ustad Bismillah Khan. Yogi said the minister responded by accusing the person of taking Bismil’s name because he was a BJP worker."If a person could not even distinguish between revolutionary Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil and shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan, you can easily imagine where they must have taken school education in Uttar Pradesh," Yogi said. He then launched a broader attack on the previous SP government, alleging that cheating was their birthright and that infiltrating government jobs was also their birthright.He accused the previous government of giving greater importance to recommendation slips than merit and said Uttar Pradesh had now moved beyond that era."Merit was given less importance than a recommendation slip," Yogi said, adding that his government had ended what he described as "policy paralysis" in the state.- EndsPublished On: Sep 3, 2026 19:28 IST