Saffron strongman is UP CM
BJP springs a surprise; Yogi gets 2 Dy CMs; none of the 3 is a legislator; swearing-in today
In a surprise move, the BJP on Saturday announced that Gorakhpur’s controversial MP Yogi Adityanath would be the next chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. The state will also have two deputy chief ministers — UP BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya and Lucknow mayor Dinesh Sharma.
The chief minister-designate and the two deputy chief ministers are, incidentally, not members of the state legislature. Yogi Aditynath and Keshav Maurya are MPs, while Dinesh Sharma is not a member of either Houses of the state legislature.
After his election, Yogi Adityanath along with his senior colleagues from the BJP went to Raj Bhavan to officially stake claim. Governor Ram Naik has invited him to form the government. The chief minister and his Cabinet will be sworn in at a grand ceremony in Lucknow on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah are expected to be present at the swearingin.
A Thakur and a five-time MP from Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath’s name was declared by Union minister Venkaiah Naidu, one of the two central observers at the first BJP legislature party meeting held in the newlyconstructed chief minister’s office known as ‘Lok Bhavan’. His name was proposed by Suresh Khanna, an eight-term MLA and was unanimously accepted by the MLAs amidst chants of “Jai Shri Ram”.
The election of Yogi Adityanath was preceded by high drama. Yogi Adityanath was summoned to Delhi by a chartered flight on Saturday morning. After meeting Mr Shah, he returned to Lucknow along with Mr Maurya on Saturday afternoon. The legislature party meeting was also delayed by over an hour as Mr Naidu held a closed-door meeting with Mr Maurya, party general secretary Bhupendra Yadav, Yogi Adityanath and senior BJP leader Om Mathur at the VVIP guest house.
The presence of Yogi Adityanath at the meeting triggered off speculations since his presence as an MP was unwarranted. The presence of Union minister Anupriya Patel at the meeting was equally surprising.
Thousands of his supporters, who had started coming to Lucknow as soon as Yogi Adityanath left for Delhi, thronged the Lok Bhavan gates chanting, “Yogi Yogi”.
The supporters became restive as the meeting continued and many of them tried to scale the high iron gates. As soon as news of him being appointed chief minister trickled out, his supporters danced with joy and burst crackers.
His supporters had been demanding that he be named CM even before the results were announced. Posters depicting him as Lord Krishna and Ram has surfaced in the state. The 45-year-old leader’s name is believed to have been finalised keeping in mind his immense popularity in eastern UP.
Whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will swear in Yogi Adityanath as the 32nd Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday evening with as much enthusiasm as he would have his first choice, Mr. Siddharth Nath Singh, is open to question.
Clearly, however, neither the Prime Minister nor party president Mr. Amit Shah, the architect of the BJP’s stupendous success in winning four out of five states, had bargained for the young Mahant throwing his hat in the ring. It would mean that a novice with no experience in governance was taking control of the BJP’s top prize, UP, and that Singh, Modi’s much speculated pick, the so-called ‘Experiment Boy” and former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri’s grandson, the newly minted MLA from Allahabad, was cut unceremoniously from the short-list
The Yogi hadn’t even stood for elections in the hard fought campaign to win UP. His relationship with the BJP has been anything but smooth. The five time Gorakhpur MP has strenuously denied it, but eight members of his aggressive Hindu Yuva Vahini had filed their nominations against BJP candidates, only to withdraw it later.
So, why and when did the firebrand saffron clad graduate decide that the top job was his for the taking? The catalyst, a source close to developments said, may have been none other than communications minister Mr. Manoj Sinha, the front-runner for the CM’s post who was told early on Friday night, that he was no longer in the running. The source said that Mr. Sinha, had his hopes up after BJP insiders let it be known that Union Home Minister Mr. Rajnath Singh had turned down the job when he was told that he would have to take two deputy chief ministers on board.
In Varanasi on Friday, Mr. Sinha had gone temple-hopping in what many saw as him seeking the blessings of the gods before he took on the top job on Sunday. Instead, a disappointed Mr. Sinha, it is learnt, was given the bad news by a senior party functionary that he was no longer being considered for the job. He was reportedly told that the man who was most likely to make the cut as the new UP CM would be Siddharth Nath Singh, a Kurmi, and coincidentally, also from Gorakhpur.
Mr. Sinha, insiders said lost little time in alerting Yogi Adityanath of the threat in his own backyard. Yogi, who sees himself as the only leader from Gorakhpur, and has always been unwilling to share that space with any other leader, was clearly alarmed. The Yogi reportedly flew to Delhi, and met with the Prime Minister, and promised to work with him on his 2019 development agenda rather than the divisive Hindutva, love jihad and forced conversions that have been his hallmark.
Empty promises or not, only time will tell.