Lucknow, Nov 15 — Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday dismissed as "baseless" the claims made in a section of media that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has prepared a list of 209 potential candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections and shared it with the party's Central leadership.
In a joint statement issued with Uttar Pradesh BJP President Pankaj Chaudhary, the Chief Minister said, "The said claims are baseless, imaginary and fabricated."
Calling the spread of wrong information as a conspiracy, CM Adityanath said the BJP categorically denies this fake and false news.
"No such list has been prepared or sent to the Central leadership by the Bharatiya Janata Party or its state leadership," he added.
"The BJP is a disciplined and cadre-based political party, with a highly streamlined, democratic, and thorough organisational process for selecting candidates for Assembly or any other elections, which has not even begun," he said.
"Such misleading propaganda is a deliberate conspiracy. It appears that certain elements are spreading this fabricated rumour with the aim of creating an atmosphere of confusion, disbelief, and fear among loyal party workers," the Chief Minister added.
He said that the BJP appeals to all its officials, workers, and the general public not to believe such baseless and misleading news in any way and to consider only information released from the party's official platforms as authentic.
The nearly 15 crore voters in Uttar Pradesh are likely to pick a new 402-member Assembly in elections scheduled around February-March 2027.
Earlier in the day, CM Adityanath highlighted the importance of making youth digitally empowered and focused on the creation of new opportunities, while referring to the young population as "demographic dividend".
Addressing a gathering during the distribution of tablets to more than 53,000 students from Lucknow, Sitapur, Hardoi, and Unnao, the Chief Minister said that appointment letters for more than one lakh government jobs would be issued by January 26, 2027.
Noting that India is the world's youngest nation, with 56 per cent of its population comprising young people, CM Adityanath said: "Uttar Pradesh is the country's youngest state, with 56 to 60 per cent of its population in the youth category."
"The state government views Uttar Pradesh’s 25 crore population not as a burden but as a demographic dividend. Prior to 2017, many young people faced an identity crisis, whereas today they proudly identify themselves as residents of Uttar Pradesh," he added.
Moreover, the Chief Minister said that the distribution of tablets is an "effort towards digitally empowering the youth".