UP CM Adityanath holds series of feedback meetings with RSS leaders ahead of assembly polls
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been holding a series of meetings with functionaries of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) across the state. These meetings are described by party leaders as the first such coordinated outreach during his second term in office.
According to a report published by The Print, over the past few days, Adityanath has travelled to Ghaziabad and Kanpur. He is also scheduled to visit Agra on Saturday for further consultations. Before the festival of Holi, he had also chaired feedback meetings in Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Varanasi.
BJP state president Pankaj Chaudhary and the party’s state organisation secretary Dharmpal Singh have been part of the discussions, along with zonal incharges from both the BJP and RSS.
A BJP leader was quoted by The Print as saying that such coordination meetings were being held for the first time during Adityanath’s second tenure as chief minister. During his first term, similar meetings were held in 2018 ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and again in 2021 before the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections.
Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled for next year, with the BJP hoping to retain power for a third straight term.
The discussions come after multiple conversations between Adityanath and RSS chairman Mohan Bhagwat in recent months. On November 24, last year, the chief minister met with Bhagwat in Ayodhya for an approximately 90-minute closed-door talk, followed by another meeting lasting about 40 minutes in February.
Between November 18 and 26, RSS officials attended a number of review meetings with ministers and bureaucrats in Lucknow.
The Print quoted political analyst S.K. Dwivedi as saying that the renewed engagement between the state government and the RSS could prove important ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. According to him, there were reports of reduced activity by RSS cadres during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, which may have affected the party’s performance.
Participants in the meetings said RSS functionaries raised several concerns on the allegations of corruption at the local level, farmers’ issues and a lack of coordination between the party organisation and the government.
One RSS functionary who attended a meeting in Ghaziabad said Adityanath was told that corruption in police stations and government offices remained a concern at the grassroots level despite a policy of zero tolerance against senior officials.
Another issue raised was that local officials often ignored BJP and RSS workers. A Sangh leader said that while coordination had improved in major towns, difficulties remained in rural areas, including problems faced by workers in securing emergency hospital beds in the National Capital Region.
According to participants, the chief minister acknowledged the concerns and assured them that the issues would be taken up with district magistrates and other officials.
During a discussion on outreach to different communities at the Ghaziabad meeting, Adityanath repeated his controversial slogan “Ek rahoge to nek rahoge, batoge toh katoge,” a phrase that critics say carries divisive undertones. By invoking the slogan while speaking about outreach, he was seen as framing the message of unity through a warning-like narrative directed at different caste groups.
RSS functionaries also welcomed the state government’s decision to increase the honorarium of Shiksha Mitras, an issue that had been raised in earlier consultations.
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Guarantee schemes model for empowering poor, Cong will return to power in 2028: Siddaramaiah
Mangaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday expressed confidence that the Congress government would return to power in the state in 2028.
He asserted that the five guarantee schemes introduced in 2023 have become a model for empowering the underprivileged, women, the unemployed and economically weaker sections, not just in the state but in the entire country.
Addressing a gathering after inaugurating a Kambala event at Muduru-Paduru in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada district, he said the welfare measures reflected the vision of the Congress government to strengthen social and economic democracy.
"The five guarantees were introduced with the sole objective of empowering the poor, marginalised and weaker sections of society. These schemes have now become a model for ensuring social and economic justice," he said.
Siddaramaiah said democracy should not remain confined to political representation alone but must also ensure social and economic empowerment.
"A democracy that is only political has little meaning unless it is socially and economically vibrant," he said, adding that the state government was working towards that goal.
The CM also praised senior Congress leader and former minister B Ramanath Rai, who organised the event, describing him as one of the most honest leaders and recalling his role in bringing developmental works worth about Rs 5,000 crore to the constituency during his tenure as MLA and minister.
Despite his contributions, Rai had lost the Assembly election from Bantwal, Siddaramaiah said, expressing hope that he would contest again from the constituency in 2028 and secure victory.
He also lauded the people of the coastal region for preserving traditional cultural practices and organising Kambala races, terming the slush track buffalo race a popular folk sport of the state.
