‘Insult to Uttarakhand people’: BJP slams Akhilesh Yadav’s ‘ghuspaithiya’ remark

The Bharatiya Janata Party publicly rebuked Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday after he alleged that the largest number of infiltrators in Uttar Pradesh hail from Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami called the remark an insult to the state’s citizens and asked Yadav to apologise.

Yadav made the statement while addressing media in Lucknow on Friday, saying, “sabse bade ghuspaithiya UP me kaun hai? Uttarakhand ke… to ghuspaithiya define karna padega.” The SP later asserted that Yadav was referring to a specific individual, not the people of Uttarakhand. Dhami, however, demanded a formal apology and warned that the issue would influence the Congress‑SP alliance’s prospects in the 2027 Uttarakhand assembly elections.

The controversy revives memories of the early 1990s when, under the leadership of Akhilesh’s father Mulayam Singh Yadav, security forces opened fire on agitators demanding a separate Uttarakhand state. Critics argue that Yadav’s recent comment echoes that contentious past, raising concerns about communal rhetoric ahead of upcoming elections and highlighting the fragile inter‑state political dynamics in the Hindi heartland.