MODI ACCEPTS MLAS’ CHOICE YOGI ADITYANATH AS U.P. CM
Uttarakhand, Yogi Adityanath will be the fourth Rajput Chief Minister of a BJP ruled state. Before his appointment, there was intense speculation regarding the post going to an OBC, given that OBCs had voted for the BJP in a big way in the Assembly elections.
The choice of the CM was delayed because of hectic parleys within the Sangh Parivar, where, at one stage, a section of the RSS wanted to install Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to the august office. The move received a setback when Modi hand- picked Trivendra Singh Rawat to assume the charge as the head of government in adjoining Uttarakhand. It was believed that the BJP would not have two Rajputs in adjoining states and it would be politically risky to get someone from the upper castes to be at the helm of affairs. However, pressure from the newly elected MLAs made them reconsider the decision and declare Adityanath as the CM designate.
On his part, Rajnath Singh had publicly announced that he was comfortable to be in Delhi, as he had earlier discharged a stint at Lucknow. Nevertheless, a section in the RSS was of the view that securing a seasoned and accomplished person like Rajnath Singh to lead UP would help in consolidating the party’s position.
According to sources, a recommendation to appoint Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to head the government was turned down by the Prime Minister, though several of his admirers in political circles considered this possible move to be a “masterstroke” internationally. It would have also silenced his critics who have spared no effort to project the PM as anti Muslim. But Modi decided to go by the wishes of the MLAs.
The Sangh and the BJP leadership are well aware that the massive mandate in UP has raised the expectations of people and no matter what, it had to deliver on all pre-poll pledges. The outcome of the Assembly elections, following the huge win for the party in the 2014 Parliamentary elections, would also provide a boost to the relentless demand for the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The overwhelming support the party has received in the state in two successive elections thus would boomerang if in the event the BJP is unable to fulfil the promise of Ram Temple. Thus, it is only a matter of time when the BJP unveils its plans for finding an amicable solution to the Ayodhya issue and furnishes a concrete blueprint for the construction of the temple.