Akhilesh Yadav accuses BJP of communalising education
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday, 16 July 2026, launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, accusing it of injecting communalism into education and ignoring core issues of teachers, students, and employment. He also questioned why the BJP has not demolished the buildings of its own 'unregistered associates', drawing an implicit reference to affiliates of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Context
In his post, Akhilesh Yadav wrote in Hindi: 'Bhajpa ko shiksha mein bhi sampradayikata nazar aati hai' — meaning, 'The BJP sees communalism even in education.' He asserted that education, teachers, students, and employment after education find no place in the BJP's agenda. The post ends with a single word of condemnation: 'Nindaniya!' — 'Deplorable!'
Yadav further pressed the BJP on selective enforcement of building regulations, asking: 'When the associates themselves are unregistered, how can their buildings, offices, and institutions be considered legitimate?' The remark is widely read as a reference to RSS-linked bodies whose premises have not faced the kind of demolition action that has been directed at other establishments in Uttar Pradesh.
Policy Backdrop
The BJP-led Union government introduced the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in July 2020, replacing the 1986 education framework. The policy restructured school curricula and higher education institutions, with an emphasis on Indian knowledge systems. Opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party, have argued that the policy's implementation has prioritised ideological reorientation over practical outcomes such as teacher recruitment and job creation for graduates.
The question of unregistered institutions has been a recurring flashpoint in Uttar Pradesh. State authorities have periodically conducted surveys and taken action against madrasas and other establishments deemed to be operating without proper registration, a process opposition leaders say has been applied unevenly along communal lines.
Stakeholders and Impact
Students and teachers across Uttar Pradesh remain the primary stakeholders in this debate. Unemployment among graduates and the slow pace of teacher recruitment in government schools have been persistent concerns raised by opposition parties ahead of state-level political cycles. Yadav's post signals that education and regulatory equity will form a central plank of the Samajwadi Party's political messaging.
RSS-affiliated organisations, whose offices and institutional buildings are implicitly referenced in the post, have not publicly responded to the charge. The BJP has in the past defended its education policies as inclusive and nationally oriented, pointing to NEP 2020 as a landmark reform.
What's Next
State assembly discussions on education funding and regulatory enforcement against unregistered institutions in Uttar Pradesh are expected to intensify in the coming weeks. Yadav's intervention suggests the Samajwadi Party intends to keep pressure on the ruling dispensation over both the ideological direction of education policy and the perceived double standard in demolition and registration drives. Whether the BJP or RSS affiliates respond formally will determine how far this exchange escalates in the political arena.