Why Amit Shah called Yogi Adityanath to PM Modi's rescue in Gujarat
The saffron-clad Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath was busy crisscrossing the state of Gujarat, where the number of rallies addressed by him as part of the Assembly poll campaign was only next to those addressed by PM Modi.
Even on the last leg of the campaigning that came to an end on December 12, Adityanath was seen hopping from one place to another, addressing 16 rallies over a span of 48 hours.
But why was he so much in demand is rather intriguing. After all, everyone knows that he was no crowd-puller. The visuals of this first road-show in Ahmedabad clearly reflected the indifference of Gujaratis towards this sadhu-turned-politician from UP. He was seen waving out to “people” who were not around.
What followed was a prolonged absence from the poll scene until he was called in again - this time it was a longer campaign. And this time around, the tone and tenor of the campaign had changed. His language had turned clearly more caustic (read polarisation on religious lines).
Meanwhile, PM Modi’s desperation began to manifest in his utterances. From development, his narrative changed to parochial and later to purely personal issues. But realising that even that was not likely to pay the desired dividends, he too sought to take it to extreme polarisation.
The clear attempt to polarise on communal lines became visible when the prime minister took recourse to building his own conspiracy theory of a "Pakistani hand" behind the Congress plans in Gujarat. And that was what has enhanced the demand for someone like Yogi Adityanath. Party president Amit Shah sent for Yogi yet again. So there he was, leaving no stone unturned to impress upon the people of Gujarat how important it was for them to bring the BJP back to power, if they really wanted to combat Islamic terrorism.
On the face of it, the BJP leadership was busy claiming that Yogi was being called because the "Nath panth" was quite popular in the state.
To buttress their claim, BJP leaders were also busy recalling how Yogi Adityanath was specially called by the local "Nath" sect a year ago to carry out the last rites of Mahant Gulabnath, his “guru-bhai”.
Yogi’s final itinerary included the districts of Mehsana, Patan, Aravali and Banaskantha, where milk cooperatives thrive and the population is largely engaged in agriculture or agro-based industry. It was here that Yogi echoed his “success” with the much-hyped ban on slaughterhouses in Uttar Pradesh.
He also made it a point to talk about "love jihad" and "ghar wapsi" - the two issues very close to his heart - that often came in handy to whip up religious passions.
Apparently, that became the need of the hour for the BJP, whose desperation became more pronounced as the election moved ahead. Not only BJP chief Amit Shah, but even prime minister Modi appeared to take to the path of polarisation. Starting with the Ayodhya issue, BJP campaigners went about using various ways to light up Hindutva emotions.
Towards the end of the campaign it was none other than Modi himself accusing the Congress of consulting Pakistan over the appointment of the next chief minister in Gujarat. His game of polarisation became too blatant the moment he sought to claim that the Congress was planning to name Ahmad Patel as the next Gujarat CM, and that the issue was even discussed with former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri at senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s residence in New Delhi. The wild allegation did gain some currency since Aiyar was already under fire for making an equally reprehensible remark – calling the prime minister as “neech”.
However, the manner in which Yogi became the BJP’s most sought-after campaigner - only second to Modi - reflects how the party was hell-bent on forging a Hindu-Muslim divide to gain political mileage in an election, which is seen as some kind of a semi-final before Modi’s ultimate political destiny is determined at the next Lok Sabha elections in 2019.