Will Yogi help BJP win votes?
NEW UP CHIEF MINISTER PICKS 47-MEMBER COUNCIL OF MINISTERS WITH EYE ON THE FUTURE
New Uttar Pradesh chief minister picks 47-member cabinet with eye on 2019 polls |
In what is being described as a ‘political bomb’ being dropped by the Bharatiya Janata Party, choosing 44-year-old Yogi Adityanath as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh is an appointment touted as maths of a different kind.
Adityanath yesterday took charge of Uttar Pradesh as its 21st Chief Minister, heading a 47-member ministry that included known Hindutva faces and political turncoats.
The oath taking at Smriti Upvan was watched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah, BJP Chief Ministers besides thousands of cheering supporters.
Governor Ram Naik administered the oath of office and secrecy to Adityanath, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma as well as 44 ministers. Maurya is the state BJP chief and a Lok Sabha member from Phoolpur, while Sharma is the Lucknow Mayor. There are 22 members of the cabinet, nine ministers of state with independent charge and 13 ministers of state.
The firebrand nationalist Adityanath is being seen as an asset that will help the BJP consolidate Hindu votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. But according to political experts, it would do well for the party, if before that controversy’s favourite child focuses on good governance and controls his tongue and tones down his antagonism.
Yogi did show some of that zeal on Saturday when he spelt out his first directive.
Ensuring the winning celebrations by enthusiastic party workers did not take its toll over normal public life in the state, he held a meeting with senior administrative officers. Issuing clear directives he said: “Public order should not be disturbed in the name of celebrations.”
It goes to the credit of Yogi that both Hindus and Muslims from his birthplace Gorakhpur, have celebrated his selection for UP’s top job. The reason is attributed to the help he has provided to people from the Muslim community of the area.
His Facebook page highlights the various projects he has launched in the region. Besides, he has substantial following among the Dalits and other backward communities and has repeatedly spoken for the cause of the marginalised sections of the society. Little though is known of his pre-Yogi days, except that he got a B.Sc degree in Maths and renounced his family at the age of 21 to become a disciple of Mahant Avaidyanath, the head priest of Gorakhnath Math. He followed it by becoming a monk and learning Hindu texts. Within five years, he was instrumental in running schools, colleges and a hospital.
After being associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) during his university days, Yogi entered mainstream politics in 1998, when his guru Avaidyanath vacated his parliamentary seat for him and he won the elections.
Upset that the BJP had denied tickets to people recommended by him in 2012 assembly elections, the Hindu Yuva Vahini, founded by Yogi, fielded candidates against BJP’s nominees on several seats. The ice between him and the BJP melted soon after and sensing his popularity, the party made him campaign extensively in certain districts of UP during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Yogi is considered close to party veteran Lal Krishna Advani.