BJP MP Yogi Adityanath at Parliament House in New Delhi | PTI
Yogi Adityanath, a five-time Lok Sabha MP and a saffron-clad BJP leader, will be the new chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. The swearing in ceremony will take place on Sunday.
The decision came after hectic parleys of BJP MLAs in Lucknow on Saturday. By naming Yogi, known for his strong Hindutva image, as the new CM, the BJP has given a signal that the massive mandate of the party in the recent assembly elections was a vote in favour of Hindutva issues. The BJP had not given ticket to any Muslim candidate as the community was seen to be polarised against it.
Yogi, whose real name is Ajay Singh, was born on June 5, 1972 in Uttarakahnd. He has been a BJP MP from Gorakhpur since 1998.
Basically a Rajput, 44-year-old Yogi is known for his strong views on issues related in Hindutva. Political experts feel that he has been rewarded for his hard work in the assembly polls and for successfully polarising votes. He has been vocal in raising issues like love jihad and slaughter houses. He has been a strong votary of building Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Yogi is also the founder of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, a body dedicated to Hindu causes. He became the head of Gorakhnath mutt following the death of his guru Mahant Avaidyanath in 2014.
Among many promises made by the BJP was to shut down machine slaughterhouses to save cows and even set up "anti-romeo" squads to stop eve teasing.
Though he enjoys a good rapport with the BJP high command and the RSS, it will be a major challenge for Yogi to play down his hard-line image and govern the state by taking all castes and communities along with him.
The decision to choose Yogi as CM came at a time when other names like party leader Manoj Sinha, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and state BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya were doing the rounds. Yogi and Maurya's supporters held protests demanding CM post for their respective leaders.
A science graduate from the Hemvati Nanadan Bahuguna at University of Gharwal, Yogi has attracted many controversies during his political career. His name has been associated with the mass conversion of over 1,000 christians to Hinduism in 2005 in Etah. He has been jailed for breaking curfew orders and disturbing peace in the area in 2007 in Gorakhpur. He has hit headlines a number of times for his alleged hate speech.
The BJP, along with its two allies, has won 325 out of the 403 seats, decimating the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance, and Mayawati's BSP.
