It was BJP’s ‘conscious decision’

The chants of “Sabka saath sabka vikas” on Saturday gave away to frenzied cries of “Jai Shri Ram” and “UP mein rahena hoga toh Yogi

Yogi kahena hoga” as the BJP’s Gorakhpur MP, Ajay Singh alias Yogi Adityanath, known for his divisive past and politics, was anointed as the next chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Sources said putting the Hindutva hawk and founder of the Hindu Yuva Vahini at the helm of affairs in UP was a “conscious decision by the BJP top brass in consultation with the RSS”.

The decision to pick Yogi Adityanath as Chief Minister was sealed at a meeting between BJP chief Amit Shah and RSS’ second-incommand Bhaiyyaji Joshi in Mumbai last week.

The BJP now appears all set to step up the politics of polarisation ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in order to consolidate the entire Hindu votebank, cutting across caste dynamics, with Uttar Pradesh seen as the gateway to New Delhi, some in the party feel. One of the main things that Yogi Adityanath is expected to focus on is the construction the Ram temple at the disputed site at Ayodhya.

Talking about the decision, a BJP leader said, “After demonetisation, this is Mr Modi’s second gamble before the 2019 elections.”

It was, however, also felt in some circles that Adityanath’s choice as Chief Minister runs the risk of the resurrection of a decimated Opposition in UP as well as across the country.

Moderates in the BJP who had been claiming that the UP mandate was a vote for “development” appeared stunned and till the last moment some top UP leaders kept saying that “it could not be true”.

The decision to make Adityanath Chief Minister was a closely guarded secret and a number of other names, including that of Union minister Manoj Sinha, were kept in circulation to keep everyone guessing.

A top Cabinet minister, speaking to this newspaper late on Saturday, said, “It’s decided. Manoj Sinha will be the CM.” Unaware of the developments behind closed doors, a confident and beaming Mr Sinha went Saturday morning to temples in Varanasi to offer prayers.

By the afternoon he was snapping at the media, and accusing them of dragging his name into the race “unnecessarily”.

One of the main things that Yogi Adityanath is expected to focus on is the construction the Ram temple at the disputed site at Ayodhya.