Samajwadi Party chief and Member of Parliament Akhilesh Yadav launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday, accusing it of being the "biggest land mafia" in the country. Speaking to reporters, Yadav claimed that no other political entity has encroached upon more land than the BJP.

“The biggest land mafia party is the BJP. No one has grabbed more land than the BJP. Just check the registries of Gorakhpur, Ayodhya, Kanpur, and Lucknow. Here, government land, ponds, and many other things have been snatched in various ways,” Yadav alleged.

The SP leader cited a recent firing incident in Gorakhpur reportedly linked to a land dispute as a reflection of the deteriorating situation under the BJP’s rule. “In Gorakhpur today, bullets were fired over land,” he said, underscoring what he described as the alarming law-and-order condition in BJP strongholds.

#WATCH | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh: SP chief and MP Akhilesh Yadav says, "The biggest land mafia party is the BJP. No one has grabbed more land than the BJP. Just check the registries of Gorakhpur, Ayodhya, Kanpur, and Lucknow. Here, government land, ponds, and many other things… pic.twitter.com/kPGcoLnZbP

— ANI (@ANI) April 5, 2025

Yadav also questioned the BJP’s use of bulldozers as a tool of governance, calling it a violation of human rights. “The Supreme Court and High Court have called the bulldozer inhumane countless times,” he noted.

He alleged that areas like Gorakhpur and Ayodhya—both politically and spiritually significant cities—have seen the worst of land grabbing activities under the current regime. “The most land mafia activities have happened in Gorakhpur and Ayodhya,” he said.

Akhilesh Yadav’s remarks come in the backdrop of increasing political heat ahead of crucial state elections, with land disputes and bulldozer politics becoming central themes in Uttar Pradesh's political narrative.