Has Yogi Adityanath really changed for the better?
Will he, won't he? That is the question doing rounds in not just political circles of Uttar Pradesh, but also in academic or social gatherings where it is yet to sink in that a saffron-clad Mahant is now sitting at the helm of affairs of India’s most populous state.
His elevation on March 19 was looked at with much skepticism by all and sundry — including BJP insiders who had been speculating on other names. Whenever the name of Yogi cropped up in the run-up to the recently concluded state assembly elections, there were more voices ready to rule it out than those who were ready to bet on his name.
Even though it has been less than 10 days since he occupied the hot seat, the 44-year-old "sanyasi" appears to be all set to prove his critics wrong. If his coronation to the throne of Uttar Pradesh was a big surprise , the way he has been conducting himself so far was an even bigger surprise.
After all, one has never seen any side of him other than that of a hardcore rabid Hindutva icon, brazenly anti-Muslim and always ready to target all minorities. So to hear the first-ever sermon of inclusiveness from him left everyone completely stumped. While making it loud and clear that he would stick to the principle of “discrimination with none and appeasement for none” , he also made it a point to declare ,“remember , religion is not above law".
He minced no words while issuing a warning to the lumpen element in the Hindu Yuva Vahini — often termed as his private army — “don’t allow your excitement to overpower your senses” and “keep control over yourselves.”
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| How he conducts himself in the next two years could also be crucial to the political destiny of PM Modi in 2019. |
Local Muslims running commercial establishments and shops or living in and around the Gorakhnath temple surprisingly confess they have never faced any discrimination at his hands. “In fact , we often go to him with our problems which he is always ready to sort out through his intervention” is the common refrain of Muslims making their living from the surroundings of the Gorakhnath temple.
Having used the aggressive Hindutva route to make his way up to what many consider as the “country’s second most powerful position” , Yogi Adityanath was now out to project himself in a new mould. To demonstrate his “inclusiveness” claim, he began his new innings with the induction of a Muslim in his council of ministers , even though BJP had not cared to field a single Muslim on any of UP’s 403 assembly seats.
As if he was following the old dictum-discretion is the better part of valour — Adityanath has spent his first few days in office, reassuring all and sundry that his ultimate goal is to provide good and clean governance.
His surprise visits to government offices, parks, or police stations were clearly intended to convey that the widely criticised and even abhorred saffron-clad sadhu was busy not only doing a makeover, but also seeking to make a difference.
In fact, what became the first turning point in his life was his first election to the Lok Sabha in 1998, when his mentor-cum-maternal uncle Mahant Awaidyanath abdicated the seat, held by him for four terms. Six years later, Awaidyanath also declared him as successor to the temple legacy. Thereafter, there was no looking back. He won every election hands down — though of course that was more to do with the multi-million following of the Gorakhnath temple than his political persona.
Known for having made it big on his own steam, he rarely missed any opportunity to keep the BJP on tenterhooks, so much so that often top BJP leadership had to shrug themselves away from the provocative utterances made by him.
BJP spokespersons were often seen disowning his remarks such as “whenever a Hindu visits Kashi Vishwanath Temple, the Gyanvapi Masjid looks at him with ridicule; if I were to be given a chance, I would get idols of Gauri, Ganesh and Nandi installed in every mosque".
More recently, during the campaign for the assembly elections, when he was busy raking up the issue of “Hindu exodus from a Muslim-dominated Kairana”, he said, “We will not let western Uttar Pradesh turn into another Kashmir. So, we will ensure that Hindus do not have to flee from their homes in Kairana.”
In fact, it was he who gave the cue to Prime Minister Modi to raise questions on UP government’s funding of ”kabristans” (graveyards) and discriminating with "shamshaans" (cremation grounds).
Earlier, while raising issues like “love jihad” and “ghar wapsi” he had made wilder noise by issuing all kinds of unprintable threats against Muslim women.
The first time his softer side became visible was following his arrest under various criminal sections — for inciting communal hatred — in February 2007, when the then chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav took the unprecedented step of bringing him to book under the law of the land. Eleven days in jail seemed to have given a new lesson, something that manifested itself in the emotional speech he gave shortly thereafter in Parliament. Not only for then Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee, but for all others who were only used to the militant side of him, it was an astonishing sight to see tears rolling down Yogi’s eyes.
Those who have known him claim that his USP is integrity — something that has been glaringly missing in the ruling political class of Uttar Pradesh for decades. Even as the much-expected bureaucratic shake-up was still awaited, he has already issued a diktat to his party leaders to shun indulgence in transfers and postings (that has been a “lucrative industry” here).
“Officials who are not ready to slog it out for 18 hours a day need to look for some other place for them” was yet another declaration that seems to have shaken the lethargic ones from their slumber. His first edict to bureaucrats for declaring their assets within 15 days was keeping the corrupt ones on tenterhooks.
While speculation was rife that his axe would fall on large-scale financial bungling during the Akhilesh Yadav regime — also known as a government with “five-and-a-half chief ministers”, fact remains that it would be the biggest litmus test for his good governance in a state where rampant corruption was at the root of all its ills.
His demonstrative action against corruption could also make the desired impact on inefficient policing that would in turn reflect his grip over yet another big challenge — law and order. The much-hyped anti-Romeo squads or the overdrive against so-called “illegal” slaughterhouses seemed to be more in the nature of rituals to give the impression that Yogi was committed to fulfilling promises made in the poll manifesto.
What seemed to have taken a backseat for now was the promise of loan-waiver. With Union finance minister Arun Jaitely having categorically ruled out the central government’s involvement in waiving farm loans estimated to the tune of Rs 29,000 crore, this could emerge as Yogi’s key challenge.
But more than that what everyone was anxiously looking up to was his handling of the contentious Ramjanmbhoomi-Babri Masjid issue. On day one, when asked to comment on construction of the Ayodhya temple, he refrained from his usual loud rhetoric and for a change sound sober and matured. “We will follow the Constitutional process,” he said, demonstrating the compulsions of political power.
How he conducts himself over the next two years could also be crucial to the political destiny of prime minister Narendra Modi when he seeks a second term in 2019.
Yet, considering that well begun is half done, there could be no denying that the firebrand Hindutva mascot is all set to prove his critics wrong. Will he? won’t he? Well, only time will tell.