Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday, 17 October 2026, asserted that the state had undergone a fundamental transformation in its law-and-order landscape since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2017, moving from what he described as a climate of fear and criminal dominance to a 'fear-free environment' under his government's zero-tolerance approach.

The Chief Minister made the remarks in a post on social media platform X on the seventh day of Navratri, extending festival greetings to citizens while invoking the divine form of Goddess Kaalratri — traditionally associated with the destruction of evil — to draw a parallel with his administration's crackdown on organised crime.

What Yogi Said About the Pre-2017 Era

'Before the year 2017, the fear and chaos born of terror by mafia elements akin to Raktabija, rioters, and criminals had cast a dark shadow over the state, erecting serious obstacles in the path of sisters and daughters' safety, education, and self-reliance,' CM Yogi said.

He claimed that over 9.5 years, the BJP's double-engine government — a term the party uses to denote aligned BJP administrations at both the state and Centre — had applied a zero-tolerance policy towards crime that had, in his words, 'suppressed these demonic forces, establishing the rule of law and a fear-free environment in the state.'

Women's Safety Initiatives Cited as Evidence

The Chief Minister highlighted several state-level programmes aimed at strengthening women's security, including Mission Shakti, the Integrated 1090 Helpline, Women's Beat Policing, and the Safe City Project. He said these initiatives had extended safety measures beyond homes to streets, schools, colleges, workplaces, and other public spaces.

Among the most specific claims was a reported improvement in police response time. According to CM Yogi, the average response time — which stood at 65 minutes in 2016 — had been brought down to just five minutes, which he described as 'clear proof' of the administration's commitment to public safety. 'Inspired by this very sense of security, women today are fearlessly working even in night shifts,' he added.

Economic Gains Linked to Security Improvements

CM Yogi also tied the law-and-order narrative to broader economic outcomes, citing a rise in women's labour force participation from 12 per cent to over 36 per cent as evidence of a wider social and economic shift. 'The rise in women's labour force participation from 12 per cent to over 36 per cent is proof that the state's feminine power, transforming into economic strength, is imparting new momentum to Uttar Pradesh's economic development,' he said.

He further linked women's growing participation in agriculture, industry, services, and entrepreneurship to what he described as a threefold growth in Uttar Pradesh's Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and per capita income — though independent verification of these figures was not immediately available.

Context and Political Significance

This comes amid the BJP's broader effort to project Uttar Pradesh — India's most populous state and a critical electoral battleground — as a governance success story. Critics and opposition parties have periodically challenged the government's crime data, arguing that improvements in reported figures do not always reflect ground realities, particularly in rural districts. Nonetheless, the BJP has made law-and-order a central plank of its political messaging in the state ahead of future electoral cycles.

With Navratri providing a high-visibility platform, CM Yogi's remarks appear designed to reinforce the narrative of transformation while building outreach among women voters — a constituency the BJP has increasingly courted in Uttar Pradesh.