Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday, 18 June 2026 hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's twelve years in government as a 'golden chapter' in India's history, crediting the period with simultaneously advancing cultural heritage revival and modern infrastructure development across the country.

Context

In a post on X, CM Yogi wrote that under Prime Minister Modi's 'illustrious leadership' (yashasvi netritva), India has established a 'new paradigm of the coordination of development and heritage' over the past twelve years. He specifically cited the grand revival of faith centres — Kashi Vishwanath Dham, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir, Mahakal Lok, and Kedarnath Dham — alongside expressways, railways, airports, digital connectivity, and modern infrastructure as twin pillars of this era. The post carried the hashtag #12YearsOfVikasBhiVirasatBhi, signalling a coordinated political messaging effort marking the BJP-led central government's anniversary.

The phrase 'Vikas Bhi, Virasat Bhi' — 'Development too, Heritage too' — has been a recurring motif in BJP's official communications and election messaging since at least 2021, framing religious-site modernisation and economic infrastructure as mutually reinforcing rather than competing priorities.

Policy Backdrop

The four heritage sites named by CM Yogi represent landmark central and state government projects spanning the past decade. The Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in Varanasi, formally approved in 2018 and inaugurated in 2021, redeveloped the precinct linking the ancient Shiva temple to the riverfront. The Ram Mandir at Ayodhya was consecrated in January 2024, following the Supreme Court's November 2019 verdict allocating the disputed land.

Mahakal Lok in Ujjain, the expanded precinct around the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga, was inaugurated in 2022 with central backing. Kedarnath Dham in Uttarakhand has received sustained central investment in reconstruction and infrastructure since the devastating 2013 floods. In Uttar Pradesh specifically, the Purvanchal Expressway and several other expressways were inaugurated from 2021 onward as part of a broader national highway expansion.

Stakeholders and Impact

Religious pilgrims and the broader tourism sector are the most direct beneficiaries of the heritage corridor projects, which have sharply increased footfall at all four sites since their redevelopment. Infrastructure developers and logistics firms operating in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttarakhand have also seen sustained project pipelines tied to the connectivity push accompanying pilgrimage centres.

Critics of the 'Vikas Bhi, Virasat Bhi' framework have argued that the framing selectively foregrounds Hindu religious sites while the infrastructure benefits are broader; supporters counter that integrating cultural identity with economic development addresses a historically neglected dimension of public investment. CM Yogi's post does not engage with this debate, presenting the twin tracks as a settled national achievement.

What's Next

Further phases of temple-corridor projects in additional states and new airport or rail links serving pilgrimage centres are expected to extend the 'Vikas Bhi, Virasat Bhi' programme into the next political cycle. State and central tourism data releases following the completion of flagship projects will be closely watched as a measure of the initiative's on-ground impact. The anniversary messaging, anchored by the #12YearsOfVikasBhiVirasatBhi hashtag, suggests the BJP intends this dual-track record to remain central to its political identity heading into future electoral contests.