CM Yogi marks Kakori Train Action centenary in Lucknow
Synopsis
On the 100th anniversary of the 1925 Kakori Train Action, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath attended a state centenary commemoration in Lucknow honouring revolutionaries Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, and their Hindustan Republican Association comrades.
Key Takeaways
The Kakori Train Action took place on 9 August 1925 , when members of the Hindustan Republican Association raided a British treasury train near Lucknow.
Key leaders Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqulla Khan organised the action; Bismil was executed by the British in 1927 .
CM Yogi Adityanath attended the centenary event in Lucknow on 9 August 2026 .
The UP government has consistently held state-level programmes marking revolutionary freedom-struggle anniversaries, including under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav framework.
The event is framed as a 'golden chapter of valour, self-respect, and national devotion' by the state administration.
One hundred years after a daring raid on a British treasury train changed the course of India's freedom struggle, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath stood in Lucknow on 9 August 2026 to honour the men who lit that fuse. The occasion: the centenary commemoration of the Kakori Train Action, marked by the state government as a golden chapter of valour, self-respect, and love for the nation.
CM Yogi attended the 'Shaurya, Swabhimaan tatha Rashtraprema ke Swarnim Adhyaya' — the 'golden chapter of valour, self-respect, and national devotion' — at the centenary celebration held in Lucknow, sharing his participation on social media as the event unfolded.
What happened on 9 August 1925
On this date a century ago, a small band of revolutionaries from the Hindustan Republican Association stopped Train No. 8 Down at Kakori, a small station near Lucknow, and seized its government treasury chest to fund the anti-colonial movement. The action was planned and led by Ram Prasad Bismil — poet, revolutionary, and organiser — alongside Ashfaqulla Khan and others. The British response was swift and brutal: mass arrests, trials, and executions. Bismil was hanged in 1927, becoming one of the most celebrated martyrs of the independence era.
The Kakori action occupies a specific place in nationalist memory — not as a conventional battlefield victory, but as a deliberate act of defiance that forced the colonial administration to acknowledge an organised armed resistance. The conspirators knew the odds. They acted anyway.
Uttar Pradesh's pattern of revolutionary commemoration
The centenary event is the latest in a series of state-sponsored programmes the Uttar Pradesh government has held around anniversaries of revolutionary actions. Earlier efforts under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav framework between 2021 and 2022 foregrounded figures such as the Chauri Chaura martyrs, part of a consistent effort to bring armed-resistance narratives to the centre of the state's public historical memory.
For the BJP-led administration in Lucknow, these events serve a dual purpose: they honour genuinely significant historical moments, and they embed a particular reading of the freedom struggle — one that emphasises sacrifice, armed defiance, and cultural nationalism — into the state's civic calendar.
A century on, the revolutionaries of Kakori are no longer a footnote. In Uttar Pradesh today, they are the headline.
Point of View
CM Yogi signals that this is not routine calendar politics but a sustained effort to reshape which heroes occupy the centre of Uttar Pradesh's historical imagination. The BJP's broader cultural-nationalist project finds particularly fertile ground in UP, where revolutionary figures from the 1920s carry deep regional resonance. Historians and opposition voices may contest the selectivity of this memory, but the political momentum behind it is unmistakable.
NationPress
9 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the Kakori Train Action?
The Kakori Train Action was an armed raid on a British government treasury train on 9 August 1925 near Kakori, Uttar Pradesh, carried out by members of the Hindustan Republican Association to fund anti-colonial activities.
Who led the Kakori Train Action?
Ram Prasad Bismil was the principal organiser and leader, alongside Ashfaqulla Khan and other members of the Hindustan Republican Association.
What happened to the Kakori revolutionaries?
The British colonial government arrested, tried, and executed several participants. Ram Prasad Bismil was hanged in 1927 .
Why is the 2026 Kakori event significant?
2026 marks the 100th anniversary — the centenary — of the Kakori Train Action, making it the most significant milestone commemoration since independence.
What is CM Yogi Adityanath's role in the event?
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attended the centenary celebration held in Lucknow , representing the state government's official recognition of the occasion.
