Yogi Adiyanath – The next Modi?? – Demystifying a skeptic's world

I recently wrote an article on living with Narendra Modi’s past and the approach for the future. Can’t forget or forgive so, have to live with it. One of the points was to oppose him on the policy front. I didn’t have to wait long as he appointed Yogi Adityanath as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Here is my take on the situation.

Yogi Adityanath is not just a Hindu lover but a fundamentalist who wants the country to have one religion which is Hinduism. I have personally seen his mansion inside the Goraknath Temple in Gorakhpur in UP. It looks like a secret service building with strong men with firearms in Saffron standing outside. You need to wonder why a Yogi needs so much security.

I want to break this blog down to two parts. Part 1 is on the facts about Yogi Adiyantha and part 2 is why I think he was selected.

Facts

Born Ajay Singh Bisht, he is a product of the Ayodhya Temple / Babri Masjit demolition movement which happened in early 1990s.
Mahant Avaidyanath, who was the head of the Gorakhnath Temple, rechristened him to Yogi Adiyanath and made him the successor.
Adiyanath was first elected to parliament in 1998 and has been a member of the parliament from Gorakhpur since then.
He has got a series of criminal cases against him including the below
1. Rioting – He was charged for the Gorakhpur riots in 2007 (smell Gujarat 2002!!!!)
2. Attempt to murder
3. Armed with deadly weapons
4. Criminal intimidation
5. Tresspassing of burial places
6. Promoting enmity based on religion, race, place of birth, residence etc
He supported Donald Trump’s muslim ban and wanted India to do the same
He wanted people who don’t do yoga to leave hindustan or drown in the sea
He shared stage with a person who requested hindus to dig up graves of muslim women to rape their corpses
He formed a group called Hindu Yuva Vahini, which is a nationalist hindu organisation with extremist views.
He led a ‘purification’ drive for conversion of Christians to Hinduism

Breakdown

I read an article in Rediff.com on whether selecting Yogi Adiyanath is similar to Advani selecting Modi. Advani hoped Modi will stay under him and it back fired. As much as there are similarities, my opinion is different.

Narendra Modi is a smart operator. Much like Vajpayee, he has two parts to his personality. The first one is administerial which claims of being inclusive and focuses on development. The other one which is religious. He gets the right religious people to ensure traditional divide and rule policy continues to work. People like Yogi Adiyanath fits into the latter.

Modi has a strong bond with people who don’t have a family. If you look at the Haryana, Assam and Uttrakhand all have chief ministers who haven’t married. It is lot easier for you to maintain your extremist positions and bridge the divide between your personal and public lives if you are single. Modi definitely sees that in Adiyanath.

Adiyanath has a strong follower base in UP. He has won consistently since 1998. If BJP harbours thoughts of getting re-elected in 2019, then the state of Uttar Pradesh is extremely crucial. Modi needs a strong person over there who will by hook or crook get him seats.

If you put Modi and Adiyanath’s CV side by side, you will definitely find starking similarities. Both are hardcore hindutva supporters, firebrand orator, ability to incite violence, strong ability to create unrest and stay in power and above all association with the Sangh parivar. In effect, Modi could be grooming a successor for him at the national level in 10 years time.

So, unlike many people I want to give credit to Modi on this move. I don’t think it was done out of compulsion but it is a calculated move with elections in mind. This is also a move that should concern progressive. Yogi Adiyanath could become a serious contender at the national level unless there is a ground up movement to identify alternatives.