MODI ACCEPTS MLAS’ CHOICE YOGI ADITYANATH AS U.P. CM

The new CM will have two deputies: state BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, currently Mayor of Lucknow and vice president of party.

Accepting the wishes of the overwhelming majority of BJP legislators in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s top leadership declared controversial Hindu leader Yogi Adityanath as the next Chief Minister of the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who spearheaded the campaign, gave his consent to the Yogi’s name after also reaching an understanding with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

The announcement is being seen as a clear reiteration of the BJP’s commitment to Hindutva. The firebrand five-time Member of Parliament from Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath has a huge following in the country’s most populous state, cutting across castes. He is a Rajput and originally hails from Garhwal in Uttarakhand. However, his emergence on the state scene has largely been because of his heading the Gorakhnath temple Mutt.

The RSS, which at one point was rooting for some- one more seasoned with wider acceptability and administrative acumen, agreed to Modi’s proposal, clearing the decks for Adityanath’s appointment. The new CM will have two deputies—state BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya, an OBC, and Dinesh Sharma, a Brahmin, currently Mayor of Lucknow and vice president of the party. The new UP team is light on ministerial experience and thus would bank heavily on advice from New Delhi, as well as from senior leaders to run government. Adityanath is perceived to be the symbol of Hindutva forces and many of his rivals accuse him of being a leader with a medieval outlook.

His appointment is likely to be well received by the vast number of the electorate that supported the BJP in the recently concluded Assembly polls. He is expected to help the party fulfil its promise of construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. However, the Yogi will need to use all the resources at his command to carry various sections of people. After Uma Bharti, who had led the BJP to a spectacular victory in Madhya Pradesh in 2003 and was elected Chief Minister, Adityanath is only the second religious leader to be elevated to the coveted post.

Adityanath’s appointment will necessitate a byelection in Gorakhpur, which could perhaps see the coming together of the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress on the same platform to take on the BJP by fielding a common candidate. After Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh, Biren Singh in Manipur and Trivendra Singh Rawat in