No, Akhilesh Yadav Did Not Say UP Needs 'Yogi Sarkar' To Prosper

A video of Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav saying for Uttar Pradesh to prosper a "yogya sarkar" (worthy government) is necessary is being shared with a false claim that he said the state needs "Yogi sarkar" meaning Bharatiya Janata Party leader and current Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Uttar Pradesh goes to polls starting February 10, 2022 with the results set to be declared on March 10, 2022. The seven phase election in the state is turning out to be a tight race between Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party and the ruling Yogi Adityanath led BJP government.

The video is being shared on Facebook with a caption in Hindi that translates to, "Akhilesh Yadav said Yogi Adityanath will form the government".

(Original text in Hindi - अखिलेश यादव ने बोला बनेगी योगी आदित्यनाथ की सरकार)

It is also being shared with another caption in Hindi that translates to, "Akhilesh Yadav has spoken what is actually in his mind. He is saying that only Yogi government will be formed. Then you say, that it is Owaisi who is an agent of the BJP."

(Original text in Hindi -दिल की बात आखिर जुबान पर आ ही गई देख लो akhilesh yadav बोल रहे हैं 👉योगी सरकार ही बनेगी | जुम्मानो फिर कहते हो ओवैसी साहब बीजेपी का एजेंट है|)

FACT CHECK

We noticed that the video in the Facebook post had the logo of Headlines India with the latter written in Hindi. We ran a search for the name on Facebook and found the page for the Uttar Pradesh based local news channel and found the same video uploaded on January 2 by them.

In the original, from the counter 55 seconds, Yadav who is addressing a crowd says, "We want to request that if Uttar Pradesh has to get on the road of prosperity, then a worthy government needs to be elected." The word, "Yogya" can be clearly heard at the counter of 1.03 seconds.

(Original text in Hindi - हम आपसे निवेदन करना चाहते है, अगर उत्तर प्रदेश को ख़ुशली के रास्ते लेजना है तो योग्य सरकार बने गी)

Watch the original video below :

The word play of Yogya sarkar vs Yogi sarkar is something Yadav has used previously in several speeches and interviews. He has used the same term in an India Today interview from December, 2021 and in speeches made in October as part of his campaigns for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections.