LUCKNOW, November 4 (Aalimi Nation) – The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken its 'Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao' (Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy) padyatra campaign across Uttar Pradesh, with Union ministers and state leaders using the marches to attack the Congress and the INDIA bloc ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.

Lucknow and Bareilly on Tuesday

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan led the march in Lucknow on Tuesday, while Union Minister J P Nadda took part in Bareilly. Speaking in Lucknow, Chouhan accused the Congress and the INDIA bloc of seeking to damage democracy and said the Prime Minister and the Uttar Pradesh chief minister had done 'extraordinary and historic' work in the state.

Chouhan also defended the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, saying it removes deceased voters, duplicate entries and people who have moved away. In Bareilly, Nadda said the opposition 'consistently raises questions about the Election Commission' and blames electronic voting machines after electoral losses. He also referred to the Emergency imposed under a Congress government.

Union Minister Jayant Chaudhary, whose party is a BJP ally, said the Samajwadi Party and the Congress had not engaged with farmers' concerns such as sugarcane prices. Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said he expected the opposition to do poorly in the coming polls. The Uttar Pradesh BJP general secretary and campaign in-charge, Dilip Patel, said the marches were organised to 'protect democracy and eradicate anarchy'.

On Wednesday the campaign moved to Gorakhpur, where BJP national president Nitin Nabin was scheduled to lead a march with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the state party president, Pankaj Chaudhary. Ahead of the march, Adityanath said the Congress and the INDIA bloc were turning their frustration over electoral defeats into what he called 'politics of anarchy'. The party said further marches were planned in Prayagraj, Kanpur and, on Thursday, Ghaziabad, led by Adityanath.

Nabin has led similar marches in other states. In Bhagalpur, Bihar, on Monday he said the opposition's protests were aimed only at gaining power, adding that 'democracy is not in danger; your opposition seat is now in danger'. He also criticised the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.

The BJP's campaign follows a sustained opposition attack on the Election Commission. The Congress and its allies have alleged 'vote theft' and questioned the revision of electoral rolls, and held a rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on Sunday. The BJP has described those allegations as baseless and says the opposition is eroding trust in constitutional institutions.

The reports reviewed did not carry a direct response from the Congress, the Samajwadi Party or the INDIA bloc to the Lucknow, Bareilly or Gorakhpur speeches. The claims made by both sides have not been independently verified.

Uttar Pradesh is due to elect a new Assembly in 2027, and the BJP's state unit has tied the padyatra campaign to its preparations for those polls. The opposition has framed its own agitation around voter-list accuracy and the Election Commission's conduct.