Uttar Pradesh ministers on Wednesday, 23 September hit back sharply at Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav after he condemned the ongoing demolition drive in Ayodhya, with several BJP ministers calling his remarks about the temple city a 'joke' and accusing the SP of pursuing a 'negative agenda' to mislead the public.

What Akhilesh Yadav Said

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow on Wednesday, Akhilesh Yadav insisted the SP was not opposed to Ayodhya's development. 'I have said this before and I say it again, we can never become an obstacle in the development of Ayodhya and the development of the city of Lord Ram. When the opportunity comes to the Samajwadis, we will make Ayodhya a world-class city,' he said.

However, Yadav alleged that the demolition drive was causing mass displacement. 'What we are seeing now is that poor people are being uprooted on a large scale. Their livelihood is being taken away and they are being treated with discrimination,' he alleged.

Ministers Dismiss SP's Concerns

Uttar Pradesh Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar asked Yadav to reflect on the state of Ayodhya during SP's tenure. 'If illegal constructions have come up on the roads, efforts are being made to clear them. That is also causing them discomfort. If people are encroaching on the roads, then who will remove it?... the government's intention is to carry out development and to properly arrange paths for people,' Rajbhar said.

Minister Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary accused the SP of spreading falsehoods. 'Misleading people is the Samajwadi Party's agenda. When the party was in power, there used to be rampant corruption, land seizures, and prevalence of Mafias. Today, Akhilesh ji is doing politics through social media, and is furthering his agenda of misleading society,' Chaudhary said, adding that 'the people of Uttar Pradesh and the country know everything, and they will not allow his plan to divide society along caste lines to succeed.'

The 'Joke' Remark and Historical Barbs

Minister Narendra Kashyap was the most pointed in his rebuke. 'Whenever Akhilesh Yadav talks about Ayodhya's development, it feels like a joke to the people,' he said. Kashyap invoked a charged historical allegation, claiming that 'during the tenure of the Samajwadi Party, bullets were fired over Karsevaks who sacrificed their lives for the construction of the Ram Temple,' and contrasting that period with what he described as the transformation of Ayodhya under the Yogi Adityanath-led government.

Minister Dayashankar Mishra 'Dayalu' echoed those sentiments, questioning the SP's moral authority on the subject. 'What connection do those who fired bullets at the Ram Bhakts of Ram Mandir have with Ayodhya's development? For years, these people had left Ayodhya abandoned like an orphan... They don't like a clean and tidy Ayodhya, they don't like the clean and tidy Baba Vishwanath Corridor,' he said.

The Broader Political Context

The exchange reflects a deepening fault line in Uttar Pradesh politics over the redevelopment of Ayodhya, which has accelerated significantly since the consecration of the Ram Temple in January 2024. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government has framed demolitions as removal of encroachments to support urban infrastructure, while opposition parties, including the SP, have raised concerns about due process and the impact on residents whose properties lie in development corridors. This is not the first time Yadav has raised the displacement issue; BJP ministers have consistently responded by invoking the SP's own governance record in Ayodhya.

With assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh still years away, the Ayodhya narrative — its development optics, communal symbolism, and impact on local residents — is already shaping the rhetorical battlefield between the ruling BJP and the SP.