Father, villagers elated at Yogi’s elevation
BIG BASH It is festive time for the residents of nondescript Panchur village in Uttarakhand where Adityanath was raised
Retired forest ranger and father of Ajay Bisht aka Yogi Adityanath became quite emotional while watching live footage of his son taking oath as the chief minister of politically crucial Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.
It is a festive time for locals in nondescript Panchur village in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand since Saturday.
“We hope that Ajay’s (Yogi) elevation will start a new era of good governance in UP,” his father Anand Bisht said, adding that the move will also benefit Uttarakhand.
A bachelor in mathematics from the Garhwal University, Ajay left home two decades ago and was actively associated with the Ram temple movement in the 90s.
This is when he came in touch with Mahant Avaidyanath of Goraknath temple and became his disciple, and was given the name Yogi Adityanath.
He is the second among four brothers and three sisters.
Although Adityanath is based in Gorakhpur, he has maintained contact with his ancestral village and relatives. He also opened a school in the village in 1998 and often visits the village.
Shantanu Badola, who hails from Adityanath’s village, said he recently came to the village to campaign for former CM BC Khanduri’s daughter Ritu, who won from Yamkeshwar seat.
“But then, no one had any idea that Yogiji was soon going to shine on top,” Badola said.
Manoj Dabral, another villager now settled in Dehradun, feels the elevation will help settle issues of “distribution of assets” between the states. Adityanath will be the fourth UP CM hailing from the hills .
In fact, Pauri Garhwal district has now become two CMs in UP and Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat also comes from Pauri.