Yogi Adityanath accuses Congress, SP of provoking students for political gain
Synopsis
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath used a Gorakhpur rally to accuse Congress and SP of cynically cycling through social groups — farmers, Dalits, youths, and now students — to manufacture unrest. His sharpest charge: that the Congress sit-in near PM Modi's residence was a deliberate attempt to create a security threat and undermine democracy.
Key Takeaways
UP CM Yogi Adityanath on 22 July accused Congress and SP of 'provoking' students and prioritising politics over national interest.
Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi had led a sit-in near PM Modi's residence on 21 July , demanding his resignation over exam paper leaks.
Adityanath alleged the Opposition follows a pattern of sequentially provoking farmers, Dalits, youths, and now students when earlier attempts fail.
He claimed the Congress sit-in was a deliberate attempt to 'create a security issue' for the Prime Minister.
CM Yogi also alleged the Opposition was attempting to 'divide society on the basis of foreign funding.'
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday, 22 July launched a sharp attack on the Indian National Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP), alleging that both parties were deliberately 'provoking' students and 'indulging in politics at the cost of the nation.' The remarks came in the wake of the CJP-led 'Sansad Chalo' march and a Congress sit-in near Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence in New Delhi.
What Triggered the Remarks
On Tuesday, 21 July, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi led a sit-in protest near the Prime Minister's official residence, demanding his resignation over alleged exam paper leaks. The demonstration followed the CJP-organised 'Sansad Chalo' march that had drawn significant attention in the capital.
Addressing a public gathering in Gorakhpur, Chief Minister Adityanath alleged: 'You all must have seen how, in order to defame the students, the goons of the Samajwadi Party and Congress laid siege to the Parliament in Delhi.'
Key Allegations by CM Yogi
The Chief Minister accused the Opposition of pursuing a calculated strategy of successive provocations — first targeting farmers, then Dalits, and now students. 'When they failed to instigate people, the Congress and the SP turned towards farmers. There too, when the farmers realised that they were being wrongly provoked, they began instigating Dalits and youths and now have started targeting the students,' Adityanath alleged.
He further claimed that the Congress protest near the Prime Minister's residence amounted to a deliberate attempt to create a security threat. 'The Congress gheraoed PM Modi's residence and shamelessly dared to create a security issue for him...incidents over the past two days reflected how the Congress and the SP are conspiring against the country,' he alleged.
Broader Political Context
Chief Minister Adityanath also referenced the Opposition's stance on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), passed by Parliament in 2019, alleging that Congress and SP had opposed it. He further claimed that both parties remained silent on what he described as 'atrocities against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh and Pakistan' and 'anti-Hindu riots across the country' — charges the Opposition has not formally responded to in this context.
Adityanath alleged that those who 'misled people in the name of students' and attempted to disrupt law and order were 'insulting Dr. BR Ambedkar and challenging the democracy of the country.'
On Foreign Funding and Social Division
The Chief Minister went further, alleging that the Opposition parties were attempting to 'divide society on the basis of foreign funding.' 'Since they know that riots and curfews are not possible in this New India, so now they are attempting to create chaos and anarchy through negative narrative,' he claimed.
He also alleged that when Congress and SP were previously in power, they 'destroyed' the Hindu community and the country through 'riots, curfews and corruption' — a claim that the opposition parties have consistently denied.
What Comes Next
The exchange signals a sharpening of political confrontation between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition bloc ahead of what analysts expect to be a prolonged parliamentary session standoff. With the exam paper leak controversy still unresolved, both sides appear set to escalate their positions in the coming days.
Point of View
Framing the Opposition's student outreach as the latest episode in a manufactured cycle of unrest — a narrative the BJP has deployed consistently since 2019. What the speech sidesteps is the substantive charge that triggered the protests: the exam paper leak controversy, which remains unresolved and directly affects millions of young aspirants. Accusing the Opposition of 'provoking' students does not address why students were mobilised in the first place. The foreign-funding allegation, made without evidence in the speech, risks being seen as deflection rather than rebuttal. The real political test is whether the BJP can separate the messenger from the message on an issue — exam integrity — where public anger is demonstrably organic.
NationPress
22 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What did UP CM Yogi Adityanath say about Congress and SP?
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accused Congress and the Samajwadi Party of deliberately provoking students and 'indulging in politics at the cost of the nation.' He made these remarks at a public gathering in Gorakhpur on 22 July, following a Congress sit-in near PM Modi's residence and the CJP-led 'Sansad Chalo' march in Delhi.
Why did Rahul Gandhi hold a sit-in near PM Modi's residence?
Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi led a sit-in protest near the Prime Minister's official residence on 21 July, demanding Prime Minister Modi's resignation over alleged exam paper leaks. The protest drew a sharp response from BJP leaders including CM Adityanath.
What is the 'Sansad Chalo' march that CM Yogi referenced?
The 'Sansad Chalo' march was organised by the CJP (Cockroach Janta Party) and involved a mobilisation towards Parliament in Delhi. CM Adityanath alleged the march was an attempt to 'defame students' and lay 'siege to Parliament,' though the organisers' stated intent was to highlight the exam paper leak issue.
What pattern did Yogi Adityanath allege the Opposition follows?
Adityanath alleged that Congress and SP sequentially target different social groups to manufacture unrest — moving from farmers to Dalits to youths and now to students each time a previous attempt to 'instigate' people fails. The Opposition has not formally responded to this specific characterisation.
What did CM Yogi allege about foreign funding?
Chief Minister Adityanath alleged, without presenting evidence in his speech, that the Opposition parties were attempting to 'divide society on the basis of foreign funding.' He claimed that because 'riots and curfews are not possible in New India,' the Opposition had turned to a 'negative narrative' to create anarchy.
