Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday, 25 July 2026, sharply criticised the previous Samajwadi Party government, alleging that development funds earmarked for Fatehpur district were diverted to finance entertainment events in Saifai, the village in Etawah district closely associated with the Yadav political family.

In his post, CM Yogi stated: 'Fatehpur ki yojanaon ka paisa Saifai mein naach-gaanon par kharch kar diya jaata tha' — meaning, 'The money meant for Fatehpur's schemes used to be spent on song-and-dance programmes in Saifai.' The remark is a pointed reference to the Samajwadi Party government of 2012–2017, during which lavish cultural events held in Saifai drew sustained criticism over their cost and optics.

Context

Saifai is the ancestral village of Mulayam Singh Yadav, founder of the Samajwadi Party and a multiple-term Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. During the SP's tenure from 2012 to 2017, the village became synonymous with large-scale public events — including the annual Saifai Mahotsav — that critics alleged were funded at the expense of district development allocations. Multiple districts, including Fatehpur, were cited in public discourse over concerns that local scheme budgets were not fully utilised for their intended beneficiaries.

CM Yogi's statement situates Fatehpur explicitly within this narrative, asserting that residents of the district were deprived of scheme benefits due to this alleged diversion.

Policy Backdrop

Since the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, the Yogi administration has consistently emphasised uniform delivery of government schemes across all districts as a counter-narrative to what it characterises as the 'VIP-centric' and 'family-centric' governance of predecessor governments. The Chief Minister has made similar allegations on multiple public platforms, framing the contrast between past and present as a governance accountability issue.

District-level fund utilisation and scheme implementation have been central planks of the current government's messaging, with regular reviews of expenditure under central and state flagship programmes cited as evidence of a course correction.

Stakeholders and Impact

The most direct stakeholders are residents of Fatehpur — a district in the Bundelkhand fringe region of Uttar Pradesh — who were intended beneficiaries of the schemes in question. If the alleged diversion occurred at the scale suggested, communities dependent on rural infrastructure, welfare transfers, and public works would have faced delayed or reduced benefits during the 2012–2017 period.

The Samajwadi Party, now in opposition, has not yet responded publicly to this specific post. Opposition leaders have in the past contested such characterisations, arguing that the Saifai Mahotsav was funded through separate cultural budgets and did not draw from district development allocations.

What's Next

The statement is likely to intensify calls from civil society and opposition groups for the release of district-wise fund utilisation reports covering the 2012–2017 period, which could either substantiate or challenge the Chief Minister's claim. With Uttar Pradesh remaining the most electorally significant state in India, such exchanges between the ruling BJP and the Samajwadi Party are expected to intensify as both parties position themselves ahead of future electoral cycles. Audit disclosures or Right to Information filings on scheme expenditure in Fatehpur during that period could bring greater specificity to this political debate.