From why a crackdown against Rohingya and Bangladeshis living illegally in the state is necessary to the dangers of Chinese manjha and mobile phone addiction among children, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has returned to an old-school tool to reach out to the public — an open letter.
Titled ‘Yogi ki Pati (Letters from Yogi)’, the CM has penned 16 letters to people of the state in the past four months, weighing in on issues that range from law and order, social awareness to cultural and religious assertions while presenting his government’s achievements.
This direct-to-public messaging assumes significance as UP inches closer to the 2027 Assembly polls. The election will be a litmus test for the BJP and for Adityanath, now in his 10th year of helming the country’s largest and politically significant state, in light of the party’s performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and internal rumblings over “Brahmin politics” in the state.
In 2024, out of UP’s 80 seats, the BJP won only 33 — down from 62 seats in the 2019 polls — with its allies Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Apna Dal (Soneylal) getting, respectively, two and one. The Samajwadi Party had bagged 37 seats, with its INDIA partner Congress winning six.
In the past few weeks, upper caste voters have been simmering over the now-stayed University Grants Commission’s (UGC) caste discrimination rules. Tensions had also flared between Swami Avimukteshwaranad Saraswati, the “Shankaracharya” of the Jyotirmath in Uttarakhand, and the BJP, as well as the Adityanath government, intensifying the disquiet.
From the CM’s desk
Those close to the CM say he personally chooses the topic of these letters, writes and edits them on paper, before releasing them for publication every week. “The name and format was decided by him,” said an official in the know.
While some connect the exercise to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Mann ki Baat” — a monthly radio programme where he interacts with citizens on a range of issues — insiders claim Adityanath merely resumed his old habit.
Sources say he would write blogs and articles when he was MP, something he had largely limited to special occasions such as Holi, Diwali and Independence Day after becoming Chief Minister.
It was in October 2025 that he decided to start writing a weekly letter to people, they say.
His first letter was issued on October 24, on the occasion of Chhath Puja. Extending his greetings, he wrote about the government’s initiative to revive one river in every district — ‘ek jila, ek nadi’ campaign — and sought public participation for the drive.
Addressing the people as “mere sammanit pradesh vasiyon (respected citizens of the state)”, he has touched upon a range of topics since.
For instance, in his December 8 letter, after the Supreme Court had questioned how intruders who cross into India illegally can demand that due legal process should apply to expel them while hearing a PIL that alleged some Rohingya people were illegally deported, Adityanath cited the need to identify “ghuspaithiyas (infiltrators)” or “Rohingya and Bangladeshi” living illegally in the state and sending them to “detention centres”.
In his letter, he told citizens that a verification campaign has been ordered because “it is necessary to clean up the illegal burden on public resources”. He also requested citizens to verify identities of those being hired as domestic help or workers at commercial set-ups.
On December 15, he wrote about how Diwali had made it to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. He then referred to the Deepotsava celebrations in Ayodhya started by his government since it came to power in 2017 and the construction of the Ram Temple.
He also wrote about how his government has ensured development of religious places — right from Ayodhya, Kashi, Mathura, Kalki Dham in Sambhal to a Buddhist site in Kushinagar. “Yeh kewal prarambh hai (it is just the beginning),” he wrote, indicating that more such decisions would follow.
A week later, he addressed the people on the cold wave that had engulfed the state and asked them to assist the homeless by taking them to nearby shelter homes.
In his letter on January 12, he wrote about ‘Road Safety’ month and how his government has chosen 3,000 accident-prone places in 23 accident-prone districts to turn them into zero death zones.
The first letter published this month was addressed to children. He wrote about the ban on Chinese “manjha” that had led to deaths and asked children to tell their parents to report people selling the illegal thread to the police. He also mentioned “mobile phone addiction”, asking children to read books and play with their friends instead.