Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls early next year, the ‘80% versus 20%’ debate has returned, with chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday claiming that 80% of the state’s voters are with the BJP-led NDA and the Samajwadi Party’s PDA slogan amounts to a mere 20%.
Connecting the Rajya Sabha contest in the state to the 2027 assembly elections, Adityanath said, “Rajya Sabha elections have indicated the outcome of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. The battle has once again shaped up as an “80 Vs. 20” contest, with 80% belonging to the NDA and 20% to the PDA. The fate of the PDA will become clear later.”
The chief minister made the remark while addressing the ‘Seva Jyoti Yatra: Viksit Bharat Sankalp Sabha’ event at Patel Park, GPO, in Lucknow to mark the completion of 25 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public life.
“The Rajya Sabha elections have foreshadowed the assembly results,” the chief minister said.
It is not the first time Adityanath has made the ‘80 versus 20’ pitch. In Uttar Pradesh where politics is largely defined by caste and religious dynamics, 20% is often seen as a subtle reference to the estimated population of the Muslim community in the state. Upper caste Hindus, multiple backward castes and the Dalits together make around 80% of the population.
Addressing the gathering, the chief minister congratulated the prime minister on this momentous achievement. Modi and BJP national president Nitin Nabin addressed the event virtually.
{{/usCountry}}Addressing the gathering, the chief minister congratulated the prime minister on this momentous achievement. Modi and BJP national president Nitin Nabin addressed the event virtually.
{{/usCountry}}“It is a proud day for every Indian as Narendra Modi completes 25 years of tireless public service. Rising from a small village in Gujarat, he is providing leadership to India. An ordinary party worker has secured a new identity for the country on the global stage,” the chief minister said.
He remarked that over the past 12 years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has presented India to the world as a strong and capable nation. By instilling confidence in every citizen, he has succeeded in building a ‘New India’—an ‘Ek Bharat-Shreshtha Bharat’ (One India, Great India, he said.
“When Modi ji took the oath as (Gujarat) chief minister, the then Prime Minister was Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the MP from Lucknow. Today, Prime Minister Modi leads the nation as the MP from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh,” Adityanath said.
Deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak, BJP MLAs Pankaj Singh, Neeraj Bora, Yogesh Shukla, Jai Devi, Rajeshwar Singh and OP Srivastava were among those present on the occasion.
During the event, the prime minister virtually administered the collective pledge of ‘Viksit Bharat-2047’ (Developed India 2047) to the nation.
Meanwhile, BJP office-bearers handed a torch to the chief minister in Lucknow, after which the ‘Seva Jyoti Yatra’ commenced its onward journey.
Reacting to the chief minister’s statement, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav wrote on social media that the CM has himself accepted that atrocities on the PDA will not stop during his regime.
“Truth is that the balance has been disturbed due to the defeat in the 2024 elections, that is why such unbalanced statements are coming. Threatening the PDA in a 5-second confession will not leave the BJP in a position to raise their heads and look into the eyes for not only 5 decades or 5 centuries but their 5 births,” Yadav wrote on X.
“When the honourable person sees ‘PDA-only-PDA’ all the time, whether he is awake or asleep, then our advice is that why doesn’t he get ‘PDA’ written on 108 beads, make a rosary of it and chant ‘PDA’, as this will at least reduce some of his sins. The BJP is bankrupt at the level of achievement,” he added.