Some use palanquins, some bullock carts, cars or even helicopters. But some newlyweds in Uttar Pradesh have been trying to make their wedding processions “memorable” by flaunting bulldozers.

Rahul Yadav, 25, sat on the semi-U-blade of a bulldozer with his bride Karishma on Friday for the first 10 minutes of the Bidai (bride’s farewell) before climbing into an SUV. The blade had been decorated with colourful festoons, flowers and balloons.

The procession at Raksa in Jhansi district, 420km southwest of Lucknow, featured 11 more bulldozers, mounted by the groom’s friends and family.

“It was a symbolic gesture to support the bulldozer moves of the chief minister,” Rahul told reporters.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has earned the moniker of “Bulldozer Baba” by demolishing properties of people merely accused of crimes, most of whom happened to be Muslims, on the allegation of illegal construction. He drew copycat responses from several other BJP chief ministers and party-led civic bodies.

Last year, the Supreme Court stopped these unilateral demolitions — carried out bypassing legal process — condemning the “lawless state of affairs, where might was right”.

A similar experiment with a wheel loader — which resembles a bulldozer — had boomeranged in the US because of the equipment’s association with communal division and hate in India.

The wheel loader, decorated with photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Adityanath, was part of the India Day Parade — held to commemorate India’s Independence — in Edison, New Jersey, in 2022. Many Indians condemned the stunt, comparing the machine to a Nazi or Ku Klux Klan symbol.

The Indian Business Association, a private group that organised the August 14 parade, initially tried to brazen it out calling the machine a symbol of law and order in India. It eventually had to apologise at the urging of the mayors of Edison and neighbouring Woodbridge, where the parade ended.

Uttar Pradesh recently saw a bulldozer featured in a Barat (groom’s arrival procession) too. Krishan Verma, a self-employed youth from Khajani in Gorakhpur, arrived with the machine to his marriage ceremony in the adjoining town of Khalilabad.

“I did it in anger after my in-laws told me that while the BJP had won the Khalilabad Assembly election (in 2022), it received fewer votes than its rival from the Khalilabad area proper,” he had told reporters.

Verma added: “So I added a bulldozer to my procession to show that the BJP was still powerful.”

In Jhansi, Rahul’s uncle Rajkumar Yadav said the bulldozers were meant to make the occasion memorable, but also made a tip of the hat to Adityanath.

“We have seen enough carts, cars and helicopters; a bulldozer makes it really memorable. You must have noticed a large number of people making videos — they will post them on social media and the event will be remembered for years,” he said.

He added: “The bulldozer has become very famous under the rule of Yogi Adityanath…. We have our own (bulldozers) and decided to use them because they are popular these days.”

A Bidai had spotlighted a bulldozer as far back as December 2022 in Hamirpur when Parashuram Prajapati gifted the machine to his daughter Neha as a wedding present.

“She is preparing for the UPSC but if she is unsuccessful, she can still earn a decent amount and lead a good life by renting out the bulldozer,” he had said.

Opposition parties have accused BJP governments of using the bulldozer to uproot or intimidate minorities and political rivals.

The Supreme Court has directed authorities to give 15 days’ notice and provide the specifics of the violations — such as illegal construction or encroachment — and the grounds for the demolition warrant before razing private property.

It has warned governments not to transform themselves into judges and decide on the guilt of the accused without trial.