151 Ambedkar Statues Vandalised in UP Under Adityanath Rule, Claims Akhilesh Yadav
New Delhi: Ever since the Adityanath government came to power in Uttar Pradesh, at least 151 statues of B.R. Ambedkar have been damaged or defaced across 72 out of the 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has said.
Trying to position his party as the defender of the dignity and sentiments of Dalit communities ahead of the 2027 assembly election, Yadav at a press event in Lucknow on Sunday (September 20) shared details about the alleged attacks on Ambedkar statues across Uttar Pradesh in the last one decade. Yadav sourced his information from media reports.
Ambedkar, an unparalleled social icon among the marginalised communities, especially Dalits, holds immense sentimental and political value in the state where more than one-fifth of the population belongs to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe community. Almost all political parties have tried to appropriate his legacy and ideas to woo Dalits.
To uproot the Bharatiya Janata Party government, Yadav is heavily relying on attracting the Dalit voters, as part of his PDA agenda (Pichda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) which is based on mobilising marginalised and backward Hindu communities and Muslims.
Yadav said that while 151 statues of Ambedkar had been damaged across Uttar Pradesh since 2017, arrests were made in only 14 cases. The state government or the state police is yet to respond to or rebut Yadav’s claims.
Yadav said the data of 151 was only those cases that had been recorded. That made it an average of 15 statues per year. The former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh also said that no legal action was taken in 84 cases, while First Information Reports were lodged against unidentified accused persons in 35 cases. Only in eight cases were criminal cases lodged against named accused, he said.
According to data compiled by the Samajwadi Party, 46 statues of Ambedkar were damaged during the first tenure of Adityanath (2017-2022), while the second tenure has seen a remarkable jump in such incidents with 105 and counting.
Also read: Ambedkar Statue Vandalised in Uttar Pradesh, Opposition Slams BJP Government
“And they deliberately deface them. They wanted to change the constitution but failed to do so. Babasaheb’s statue depicts him holding the book of the constitution – that is why the BJP and those who share its ideology target that very hand first,” said Yadav. “This is a BJP government; they do not honour Babasaheb Ambedkar – neither his statue nor his people. If an SP government is formed, the Samajwadis will ensure he is fully honoured.”
According to the party’s data, most of the cases were reported in Ballia (9) and Azamgarh (6), followed by five each in Mathura, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur. Four cases each were reported in Ghazipur, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Prayagraj, Lucknow and Varanasi. Two cases were reported in Gorakhpur, the political bastion of Adityanath.
Yadav claimed that there had been underreporting of such incidents in the district. The year-wise break-up of such incidents during the present government showed that 4 statues were damaged in 2022, 12 in 2023, 13 in 2024, 29 in 2025 and 47 in 2026.
In a written appeal to the public, Yadav later alleged that in more than 85% of these cases, the state police took no action against these “power-protected feudal anarchists” and vowed that his party workers were committed to protecting Ambedkar’s honour.
“Baba Saheb's statue is not just a stone or metal statue; it symbolizes our honour, rights, the constitution, and social justice. However, under the BJP government, Baba Saheb's statues are being continuously targeted by feudal elements,” he said.
Yadav also directly linked it to the 2027 election. We appeal to the people of Uttar Pradesh not to remain silent in the fight for Baba Saheb's honour, the protection of the constitution and social justice. Protest every such incident in your villages, towns and cities; ask questions, and in the 2027 elections, answer those feudal forces that play politics in Baba Saheb's name but fail to protect his honour,” he said.
Omar Rashid is an independent journalist.
This article went live on September twenty-first, two thousand twenty six, at one minutes past eight in the evening.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
