As Uttar Pradesh prepares for the 2027 Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is increasingly highlighting the previous governments of the Samajwadi Party (SP) in its political campaign. Senior BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, have repeatedly referred to the period before 2017 while addressing public gatherings.

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At a recent rally in Bithoor, Kanpur, Adityanath criticised the SP’s tenure, raising issues of law and order, corruption, communal riots and alleged appeasement politics. He also contrasted the previous government’s record with his administration’s work on infrastructure and religious sites.

Amit Shah also referred to the 1990 police firing on kar sevaks in Ayodhya during the Mulayam Singh Yadav government. He questioned SP chief Akhilesh Yadav over the incident and compared it with the construction of the Ram temple.

The BJP’s approach follows a campaign pattern similar to the National Democratic Alliance’s strategy in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, where the alliance repeatedly recalled the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s previous rule and its “jungle raj” narrative.

The BJP says it is presenting voters with a comparison of governance before and after 2017, pointing to developments in electricity supply, expressways, airports and medical colleges.

The SP, however, has criticised the repeated references to its past. Party leaders argue that the BJP should focus on its own record and address issues such as education, healthcare and employment.

With the 2027 elections approaching, the debate over governance before and after 2017 is becoming a prominent part of political discussions in Uttar Pradesh.