Yogi Adityanath To Lead BJP In 2027 UP Polls, But RSS Flags Growing Ground-Level Discontent

Lucknow: The BJP will go into the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election with Yogi Adityanath as its chief ministerial face, but a crucial RSS assessment ahead of the polls has drawn a distinction between the chief minister's standing and the growing discontent against the party's local leadership.

At a high-level coordination meeting between the RSS and BJP in Lucknow on Wednesday, the Sangh's message was clear: there is no question of changing the face of the BJP's campaign in Uttar Pradesh. Yogi will lead the party into the election. The bigger concern is what is happening below him, particularly among sitting MLAs, party workers and the local administration.

People familiar with the discussions told this reporter that the RSS feedback was that Yogi continues to enjoy a favourable image among voters and that the organisation has not detected a comparable negative narrative against him. At the same time, there are constituencies where sitting MLAs are facing public resentment and where their relationship with the BJP's grassroots workers has deteriorated.

“The RSS leadership is of the view that the distinction could become politically important for the BJP as it prepares for an election in which it will be seeking a third consecutive term,” a senior Sangh functionary said.

The RSS in the meeting also narrated complaints about the functioning of the police and administration. According to the feedback presented at the meeting, people in several areas are unhappy with the way their day-to-day grievances are handled, while party workers have complained that their access to officials and the government machinery has weakened.

The Sangh's advice to the BJP was therefore less about defending Yogi and more about repairing the organisation's ground-level machinery. "Forget differences and grievances and get down to election preparation" was the broad message to BJP functionaries, according to sources.

The concern over the opposition's narrative was another major theme of the meeting. Senior RSS and BJP leaders told functionaries not to spend their time reacting to every issue raised by the opposition.

Instead, the organisation was asked to establish its own narrative around the government's work, development and law and order, while responding to allegations with facts.

The instruction extended to social media, which has emerged as an important battleground for the 2027 election.

RSS functionaries told BJP workers that social media activity could not be reduced to photographs of party programmes, birthday greetings for leaders or reposting messages from senior politicians. Every local organisation, they were told, would have to create its own political narrative and communicate directly with voters.

The BJP is expected to use reels, posts and other short-form content to showcase government schemes, development work and the party's organisational activities. At the same time, it plans to counter opposition allegations on social media.

The focus is likely to be particularly strong among Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha voters, sections of whom are increasingly engaging with politics through social media rather than traditional party networks.

The RSS-BJP exercise comes at a time when issues concerning young voters are becoming increasingly prominent in Uttar Pradesh politics. Feedback from the ground included concerns over paper leaks, education, employment and UGC-related issues. Recent protests over some of these issues were also discussed.Yogi is BJP’s face for 2027, but RSS flags ground-level anger against MLAs, govt