ADITYANATH IS NEW STAR CAMPAIGNER IN GUJARAT, HP
NEW DELHI : Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has clearly moved ranks in BJP.
The 45-year-old Gorakhpurbased politician in saffron robe has spent at least six days outside Delhi this month to campaign for the party in electionrelated and other outreach programmes, signalling his rise within the BJP as the new ‘star campaigner’ of the party.
He was first off the blocks among chief ministers to campaign in Himachal Pradesh – a hill state with a sizeable population of Thakur.
Yogi – or Ajay Mohan Bisht – was born in a Thakur family from Pauri Garhwal in neighbouring Uttarakhand.
On his campaign trail, he spent two days in Himachal Pradesh, addressing rallies in Kangra, Solan and Sirmaur districts.
“Yogi draws crowd, much more than any other chief minister of the BJP,” a party leader in charge of campaign management said, on condition his name was not published. “He is perhaps only behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi in terms of drawing crowds.”
Adityanath was in Gujarat for two days, October 13-14, to take part in BJP’s ‘Gaurav Yatra’ in Surat, Valsad and Kutch.
“Whatever the BJP may say, religious divide has been an angle of its campaign. It keeps arousing religious icon. Yogi may not be using harsh language, but his identity helps BJP keep the Hindu voters intact. That is the reason for keeping Yogi at the forefront of the campaign,” says Sanjay Kumar, director, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.