Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reached Varanasi on Saturday (January 17, 2026) and targeted the opposition parties, saying that Congress and its allies are not liking the development, hence they are continuously trying to mislead the people of the country through misleading and false propaganda.

Addressing a press conference at the Circuit House here, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Central and Uttar Pradesh governments are working together to promote religious tourism in Kashi as well as to preserve the ancient heritage.

He said, “Congress and its allies are not liking this development work, hence they are continuously trying to mislead the people of the country through their misleading and false propaganda.” Yogi said that Kashi is witnessing unprecedented development today. He said that projects worth more than Rs 55 thousand crore have come on the ground in Varanasi, which is writing a new story of development.

Praising the work of Prime Minister Modi, the Chief Minister said that this trend has been going on since the construction of Shri Kashi Vishwanath Corridor. During that time, some people tried to mislead the innocent public by showing broken statues, but today the truth is in front of everyone. He told that after the construction of Kashi Vishwanath corridor, one to one and a half lakh devotees are offering darshan and worship every day, whereas earlier this number was limited to only 10 to 15 thousand.

The Chief Minister said that reconstruction and development work is also being done at Manikarnika Ghat. Congress and its supporters are making absurd allegations regarding this also. However, the people of Kashi know the truth very well and stand with the development works. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath warned that strict action will be taken against those who are misleading the public through social media. He made it clear that the government will continue to move forward strongly on its resolve to preserve both development and heritage.

Meanwhile, reacting to the Chief Minister’s statements, Samajwadi Party President and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav posted on ‘X’, “Can you say this by going to the Ghats of Kashi and looking into the eyes of the people of Kashi? This is not a question, it is a challenge, unfortunate!”