UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has directed all district magistrates to immediately identify illegal infiltrators, set up detention centers, and deport them. Yogi government’s order comes at a time when the Election Commission is conducting a special voter list revision drive in several states, including Uttar Pradesh. One of the key objectives of the EC drive is to identify infiltrators and remove them from the voter’s list. With assembly elections due in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and the Union Territory of Puducherry in 2026, Yogi government’s move against infiltrators is likely to find an echo in these poll-bound states where infiltration and demographic change have long been central topics of socio-political debate. the BJP has been raising the issue of infiltration prominently since long. The BJP’s campaign has found active support from RSS also.This raises a key question: Are the RSS and BJP working on a strategy to turn the issue of infiltration—along with Hindutva—into a nationalist wave, using the new generation of leaders, especially Yogi Adityanath?
After Sheikh Hasina’s fall, infiltration becomes the BJP’s key weapon
In the 2025 assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi, and Bihar, infiltration and demographic imbalance emerged as major poll issues. Political analysts believe that the issue helped BJP attain victory in some key states. UP CM Yogi Adityanath led this campaign extensively in these states along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah.After the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government in Bangladesh, attacks on Hindus and their places of worship increased. This had a direct impact on India’s border states—West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand, and others in the Northeast. The BJP ensured that infiltration and demographic imbalance turned into a national debate, thereby strengthening Hindutva and nationalism planks.
RSS–BJP’s new winning strategy: A big gamble with Yogi at the forefront
Yogi Adityanath’s latest order on infiltration in Uttar Pradesh perhaps signals the future strategy of the RSS and BJP. By making infiltration and demographic imbalance national issues, the party is leveraging Yogi’s image as a strict administrator. After Assam, Uttar Pradesh is the only state to initiate such large-scale and impactful action.Yogi Adityanath, since taking charge in 2017, has kept focus on identification and deportation of foreign nationals. According to some reports, UP may still have a large numbers of infiltrators. The BJP would hope that its strict action against infiltrators in UP could give the party substantial edge over the opposition. The UP government’s move will be watched keenly by West Bengal and other opposition-ruled states. There are enough hints to suggest that the BJP would continue to use Yogi Adityanath along with PM Modi and other top leaders to build a strong campaign against infiltrators. This could also help the BJP and chief minister Yogi Adityanath in UP assembly elections due in 2027.
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