METAMORPHOSIS OF A MAHANT
The investors’ summit gave positive signals besides boosting CM Yogi Adityanath and the state’s image. But it’s also time to deliver
LUCKNOW: From sparkling steel thalis to bone china crockery, the chief minister’s official residence has undergone drastic change of culture as its occupant, Yogi Adityanath, transforms from a mahant to a manager, dexterously handling over ambitious colleagues, BJP-RSS leadership and polls -- both in UP and other states.
But just when he was about to launch monthlong celebrations to mark completion of his one year in office with a by-poll victory in his kitty of achievements, he met a shocking defeat in his own bastion Gorakhpur.
LUCKNOW: From sparkling steel thalis to bone china crockery, the chief minister’s official residence has undergone drastic change of culture as its occupant, Yogi Adityanath, transforms from a mahant to a manager, dexterously handling over ambitious colleagues, BJP-RSS leadership and polls -- both in UP and other states.
But just when he was about to launch month-long celebrations to mark completion of his one year in office with a by-poll victory in his kitty of achievements, he met a shocking defeat in his own bastion Gorakhpur. Nothing can be more humiliating for a chief minister to lose his own seat that he won five times, that too in a by-poll in which voters generally support the ruling party.
This was one election in which he could have established his political mettle as he campaigned independent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his ministerial colleagues and BJP president Amit Shah. Obviously, his detractors are smiling as they envied the rise in his stature in his adopted party. After all, not every BJP chief minister gets to campaign in elections in other states.
Now the two pertinent questions: was it a referendum on the government’s performance? Was it a test of Yogi’s Hindutva based social alliances that he built over the years? If it was so, he failed on both fronts as the lower castes moved back to the BSP the moment they saw the new alliance winning the polls.
Lalji Nirmal of Ambedkar Mahasabha was all praise for Yogi for making Ambedkar pictures in all government offices – from tehsil to thana, schools to hospitals --mandatory. “It’s better than building statues. Even President Ramnath Kovid has assured us to get it implemented at the national level,” said Nirmal.
But Dalit activist Anoop Shramik reeled out data to prove rise in the number of cases of Dalit atrocities during Yogi and Modi rule – 10,000 registered cases in UP in one year, one lakh in the country in four years.
He said, “The manuvadi forces have been emboldened by the government’s policy to sideline OBC and Dalit officers in transfer and postings, especially in police stations. In Varanasi alone, upper caste officers head over 20 of the 28 police stations. Why will they register our cases, that too under the SC/ST Act?”
The BJP leadership may now want to do some course correction.
Ironically, the mini quake in state politics has come at a time when Yogi was in news more for the success of Investors Summit than his religious duties as the Mahant of Goraknath Peeth, his consistent push to Hindutva notwithstanding.
The Gujarat model - Hindutva and development – that he adopted has failed to deliver so far as the promises to give jobs, security and social justice remain on paper.
His recent statement, ‘I am a Hindu, I don’t celebrate Eid’ did not go down well in the state, where in its hinterland caste and communities still live together, celebrating all festivals.
As a professor from Meerut said, “Even if he is a Hindutva mascot, as the chief minister he has to rise above caste and communities, at least in the public eye.”
A senior professor of Economics here at Lucknow University, preferring anonymity said, ‘He is now in the chief minister’s shoes. His integrity is his USP, but the challenge lies in delivering commitments. Investors’ Summit gave positive signals besides building his and the state’s image. But some doubts on the claimed figures have been raised. It’s time to deliver. They have announced health draft policy, but again delivery is not visible. Similarly, where is the blueprint of their development promises? It’s high time people started feeling the change or else they will face music in 2019 despite Modi’s charisma and Yogi’s aura of a mahant.
Significantly, Yogi did manage to hold successful Investors Summit within his first tenure, giving him an edge over his peers in other BJP ruled states.
And notwithstanding the challenges ahead -- that the government walks the talk—Yogi did emerge as a quick learner.
A senior bureaucrat, who was initially sceptic about a mahant in a chief minister’s role, said, “He may not be a visionary but now knows every department and scheme. The month-long departmental meetings held by him after taking charge helped him understand the functioning of the government.”
From Yogi’s point of view, he needed more of management than vision. He came from adopted party Hindu Yuva Vahini, which had created its own political space in Gorakhpur region.
“He might have contested elections on BJP ticket, but he also propped up the Hindu Yuva Vahini while bargaining for tickets in elections.”
Yogi, infamous for his fiery speeches and communal agenda, has however successfully controlled his youth brigade, telling them to lie low and take off opposition boots.
Even the RSS leadership had objected to east UP based Hindu Yuva Vahini expanding its base in western parts of the state in the initial months of Yogi as chief minister.
Moreover, he had to manage power centres. In words of an opposition leader, ‘Whereas the Akhilesh government was run by four and a half chief ministers, the Yogi government is run by remote control from Delhi.”
Now no one is talking about whose choice he was. Amit Shah had once said, ‘We had consultation with 45 leaders before taking a decision.” But the controls on him have stayed.
He was picked up for several reasons—his aura of a mahant with an image of a hardliner that cuts through castes, his mobilisation capabilities and mass appeal.
When asked once how as a mahant he got divine help in running the government, he had said, “It shows me the way as well as gives me strength.” May be he will get a divine message on managing a huge state like Uttar Pradesh and deliver in 2019 — his next major challenge.
› He now knows every department and schemes. The monthlong departmental meetings held by him after taking charge helped him understand the functioning of the government. A SENIOR BUREAUCRAT