Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday, 26 May 2026, took a pointed dig at the Samajwadi Party's governance record, claiming that during the SP's tenure in the state, power supply was so scarce that people used electricity lines to dry clothes rather than to power their homes.

Context

The Chief Minister's post, written in Hindi, states: 'Samajwadi Party ke samay bijli ke taar par log kapda sukhate the' ('During the Samajwadi Party's time, people used to dry clothes on electricity wires'). The remark is a colloquial indictment of the near-absent power supply that Uttar Pradesh households, particularly in rural areas, reportedly endured during the 2012–2017 SP government led by Akhilesh Yadav. The image of clothes drying on electric wires has become a recurring metaphor in BJP political messaging to underscore the contrast between the two administrations.

Policy Backdrop

When the Yogi Adityanath government took office in 2017, power-sector reform was placed at the centre of its governance agenda. The administration pursued feeder separation — segregating agricultural and domestic supply lines — alongside increased power procurement to reduce load-shedding. Uttar Pradesh had also adopted the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) in 2016–17 to restructure the debt-laden finances of state electricity distribution companies, laying groundwork for supply improvements. Successive state budgets have earmarked capital expenditure for discom infrastructure, and the power department has periodically reported measurable reductions in outage hours across urban and rural feeders.

The SP government's tenure between 2012 and 2017 was marked by widespread complaints about prolonged power cuts, particularly in rural Uttar Pradesh. Opposition parties at the time attributed the shortfalls to inadequate procurement, ageing transmission infrastructure, and high aggregate technical and commercial losses in the distribution network.

Stakeholders and Impact

Rural households across Uttar Pradesh — home to roughly 20 crore people in villages — remain the primary stakeholders in any narrative around electricity access, as they historically bore the brunt of extended outages. Urban consumers in cities such as Lucknow, Kanpur, and Varanasi also experienced significant supply disruptions during the earlier period. For the BJP, improved power metrics serve as a tangible governance deliverable ahead of electoral cycles, while the Samajwadi Party contests the framing and points to its own infrastructure investments during its term.

The post, carrying a video, is likely part of a broader digital campaign by the BJP to reinforce its 'double-engine government' narrative ahead of continued political competition in India's most populous state.

What's Next

Political observers will watch for the Samajwadi Party's formal response to the renewed attack on its power-sector record. The release of the next Uttar Pradesh power department performance report or state budget allocations for discom capital expenditure will provide independently verifiable data against which both parties' claims can be measured. With assembly elections on the horizon, infrastructure governance — and the competing narratives around it — is set to remain a defining battleground in UP politics.