AI Video War In UP: Akhilesh Yadav's 'Chillum' Dig Angers BJP, He Doubles Down

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been weaponised ahead of the Uttar Pradesh 2027 election contest, with the ruling BJP on Tuesday accusing the Samajwadi Party of insulting Hindu saints with its latest video that references donation irregularities at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and takes potshots at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. That video, released by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, was itself a retort to a BJP video that called him corrupt. As the BJP got angry, Akhilesh's party doubled down by repeating the shot at Adityanath.  

"Dear residents of the state, now Akhilesh Yadav has himself removed and discarded his mask," the UP BJP unit posted on its social media channels. "Now he has crossed the line and made it clear to the people of the state what his true ideology is, by holding a press conference and insulting saints, Sanatan, and the faith of crores of Sanatanis in a public display of his anti-Sanatan mindset."

Akhilesh Yadav, a former CM whose party won a majority of the state's Lok Sabha seats in 2024 in a shock to the BJP, showed the video at a press conference on Monday. That was after he showed another video, which he attributed to the BJP, that made allegations against him. "There's one more video that was sent to me," he said, "It is not Samajwadi Party's video, but it is a video which was given to me by someone."

And then he played the video, depicting men in saffron robes stealing from a temple donation box. It also showed Adityanath smoking, and the lyrics of the song went: "UP badnaam hua, Baba tere maare...", meaning "UP has become infamous because of Baba (a reference to Adityanath)". This was his clapback at a music video circulated by some BJP-aligned social media handles that called Akhilesh by his nickname, Teepu, and the lyrics said, "UP badnaam hua, Teepu tere maare."

Jagdambika Pal, a senior BJP leader and MP, reacted: "Akhilesh Yadav has been CM; he should maintain some dignity." He asked, rhetorically, if the Opposition would "degrade to such an extent" that it would show Adityanatha smoking a chillum (clay pipe, used for smoking cannabis). "In Akhilesh's mind, the image of a sage or saint is only of someone smoking a chillum. I think the public of Uttar Pradesh will deliver a reply to this in 2027."

The SP then posted another video with the same depiction of Adityanath, and wrote: "Uttar Pradesh is being choked by smoke."

प्रिय प्रदेशवासियों, अब अखिलेश यादव ने अपना मुखौटा स्वयं उतारकर फेंक दिया है। अब उन्होंने लकीर भी खींच दी है और प्रदेश की जनता के सामने यह भी स्पष्ट कर दिया है कि उनकी मूल विचारधारा क्या है।

प्रेस कॉन्फ्रेंस करके साधु-संतों, सनातन परंपरा और करोड़ों सनातनियों की आस्था का जिस… pic.twitter.com/oBuJpFXtJA

— BJP Uttar Pradesh (@BJP4UP) September 1, 2026

Subrat Pathak, a General Secretary of UP BJP and who lost to Akhilesh from Kannauj in 2024, also attacked the SP: "Yogi ji is not just a chief minister. He is a saint. And what their (SP's) perception of him is, has come to light through this AI video." He claimed the SP won't depict a Muslim cleric in such a manner "even if that maulana or maulvi publicly insults his own wife".

Akhilesh said when he showed the first video on Yogi, "If the BJP uses AI to make songs targeting me, we will also respond to those songs with songs."