By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adiyanath’s concern expressed during a BJP meeting about over a crore deletion of Hindu voters from the SIR is a clear indication of the political vulnerabilities ahead of 2027 election. It indicates that BJP is entering the 2027 election with considerably more uncertainties than it had in 2017 or 2022.
After Yogi’s expressed concern, a rumour is doing round in Uttar Pradesh that Union Minister of Home Amit Shah is targeting Yogi Adityanath so that he may not emerge as his competitor for the post of Prime Minister after PM Narendra Modi, hence Hindu votes deletions are effected to weaken Yogi and his followers within the party. Nevertheless, Yogi Adityanath is not yet facing an imminent threat to his position as BJP’s principal leader in Uttar Pradesh, though the controversy over the deletion of Hindu voters from electoral rolls, has clearly alarmed Yogi.
Other concern for Yogi is that there has been growing internal dissatisfaction within the BJP, including caste-based tensions and resentment among party workers. Moreover, there is also a possibility that the SP-Congress alliance could turn its impressive 2024 Lok Sabha performance into a serious challenge to the BJP in the Assembly election.
Yogi’s political position within the BJP, the BJP’s electoral prospects, and the prospects of Yogi’s political camp are three different questions. They overlap, but they are not identical. They need special attention at this point of time.
On October 31, at the BJP’s state working committee meeting, Yogi made a striking claim. He said that approximately 1.27 crore Hindu voters were missing from Uttar Pradesh’s electoral rolls and instructed BJP MPs, MLAs and party workers to ensure that eligible voters were registered. He also claimed that 66 lakh people appearing on panchayat electoral rolls were absent from Assembly constituency rolls. Approximately 55 lakh beneficiaries of government welfare schemes were not registered. Around 4.5 lakh young people aged 18–19 were missing from the rolls. He argued that UP should have more than 16 crore voters, whereas the current electoral roll contained approximately 13 crore. He also suggested that the alleged omissions were weakening the BJP’s position in 28 urban local-body constituencies.
The controversy needs to be understood in the context of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Election Commission’s final revision reduced UP’s electoral roll from 15.44 crore to approximately 13.39 crore. There is a significant qualification here. The Election Commission has not established that 1.27 crore Hindu voters were deleted. The religious composition of deleted voters has not been provided in the figures cited.
Why would this worry Yogi? Because it may upset BJP’s electoral arithmetic.BJP depends on a broad coalition of upper-caste Hindus, non-Yadav OBCs, sections of Dalits and other communities. Its Hindu consolidation strategy is an important part of this coalition. If large numbers of eligible voters sympathetic to the BJP are missing from the rolls, that could hurt it, particularly in closely contested constituencies.
Urban electoral constituencies of serious concern. Yogi specifically referred to 28 urban constituencies. Urban areas have traditionally been important for the BJP. If the electoral roll has undergone significant changes in these areas, the party has a legitimate reason to check whether its supporters are properly registered.
BJP is also worried about organisational complacency. A party that has been in power for nearly a decade can assume that its traditional voters will continue to support it. But electoral registration requires active booth-level mobilisation. Yogi is effectively telling the BJP organisation not to take its voter base for granted.
By framing the problem as missing Hindu voters, Yogi is also reinforcing his own political positioning as the leader who protects Hindu political interests. That is significant because he wants to remain indispensable to the BJP’s electoral strategy in UP. His concern is both electoral and political.
Is Yogi facing a challenge to his dominance within the BJP? Answer of this question will be significant. Yogi’s position is strong, but the BJP is not a party in which the Chief Minister independently controls all the levers of power. There are three centres of influence: Yogi Adityanath and his administration; BJP’s central leadership, which controls major organisational and electoral decisions; RSS and the wider Sangh Parivar, whose cooperation matters for electoral mobilisation.
Yogi’s political strength comes from his personal popularity, his Hindutva credentials, his administrative image and his ability to mobilise voters. However, there are signs of internal friction.
Keshav Prasad Maurya factor is important, because he remains an important political figure. The Deputy Chief Minister represents a different social and political constituency from Yogi. He has an OBC political identity and a relationship with the BJP’s wider organisation. The tensions between the two became particularly visible after the BJP’s disappointing 2024 Lok Sabha performance in UP.
This is another serious vulnerability – the Thakur-Brahmin tensions. Yogi’s Thakur background has periodically become a political issue. Sections of Brahmin leaders have complained about inadequate political representation and alleged administrative discrimination. In December 2025, the BJP leadership publicly cautioned legislators against caste-based meetings after a gathering of Brahmin MLAs and MLCs generated controversy.
This is important because the BJP’s electoral success depends on maintaining a coalition between upper castes and non-Yadav OBCs. If Brahmin dissatisfaction increases, it creates an opening for the Opposition.
Moreover, the organisation is not entirely comfortable. The BJP and RSS conducted meetings in the Kashi and Gorakhpur regions to address dissatisfaction among party workers. The chief complaints were – Workers being neglected by the administration; Party-hoppers receiving organisational positions; Local BJP leaders having insufficient influence over government officials; And lack of enthusiasm among party functionaries in defending Yogi and his government against Opposition attacks. (IPA Service)
