Know How ‘I love Muhammad’ Row Gives Yogi Ammunition Against Akhilesh Yadav; Read Details

29th September 2025 at 5:32 PM

2 minutes read

New Delhi : The “I love Muhammad” campaign that has spread to several districts of Uttar Pradesh has unexpectedly handed Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath a potent political weapon, leaving Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav largely silent and on the backfoot. The row began in Kanpur in the first week of September when a banner with the phrase “I Love Muhammad” was displayed along the route of a Barawafat procession taken out to mark the Prophet Muhammad’s birth.

Local Hindu groups objected to what they said was a “new tradition”. The dispute soon spread beyond Kanpur, sparking rallies in several parts of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana, and Maharashtra. Clashes were also reported in Bareilly and Nagpur. What began as a local issue has since morphed into a statewide trend in Uttar Pradesh, helping Yogi Adityanath to champion the cause of Hindutva during the ongoing Navratri festival.

The row gives Yogi Adityanath an opening to consolidate Hindu sentiments and force the SP into a delicate balancing act: While the party cannot alienate its minority base, it also cannot afford to be seen as openly antagonistic to Hindus during the festive period. Observers point out that the controversy threatens to disrupt Akhilesh Yadav’s careful months-long outreach to the PDA bloc — Pichhda, Dalit, Alpasankhyak (Backward, Dalit, Minorities) – at least for now.

This was seen recently, when during a ‘I love Muhammad’ demonstration in Bareilly, Samajwadi Party spokesperson Sumaiya Rana, daughter of the late poet Munawwar Rana, warned of a mass mobilisation in Lucknow. The SP quickly had to move and seek a clarification from her. Police have arrested Zubair Ahmed Khan, who is the prime accused in the Kanpur unrest that sparked the row in the first place. A dismissed UP Police constable, Khan had recently joined the Samajwadi Party.

The Chief Minister has vowed to “teach a lesson” to the maulana, launching strict legal and administrative measures. Yogi has reframed the debate as Hindutva versus religious extremism, turning what was a local protest into a broader ideological contest. His public statements have sent a clear message to the opposition and community leaders, warning that attempts to disrupt public order during Hindu festivals will be met firmly.