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Yogi Adityanath

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Yogi Adityanath
21st Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
Incumbent
Assumed office
19 March 2017
GovernorRam Naik
DeputyKeshav Prasad Maurya
Dr. Dinesh Sharma
Preceded byAkhilesh Yadav
Member of Legislative Council, Uttar Pradesh
Incumbent
Assumed office
18 September 2017
Member of the India Parliament
for Gorakhpur
In office
1998 – 21 September 2017
Preceded byMahant Avaidyanath
Personal details
Born
Ajay Mohan Bisht[1]

(1972-06-05) 5 June 1972 (age 52)
Panchur, Pauri Garhwal, Uttar Pradesh, India
(now in Uttarakhand, India)
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
Residence(s)5, Kalidas Marg, Lucknow
EducationB.Sc. (Mathematics)
Alma materH. N. B. Garhwal University
OccupationPolitician
Priest
Personal
ReligionHinduism
Military service
RankMahant
Religious career
TeacherMahant Avaidyanath
Websitewww.yogiadityanath.in

Yogi Adityanath (born Ajay Mohan Bisht[1][2][a] on 5 June 1972[4]) is an Indian monk and Hindu nationalist politician who is the current Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, in office since 26 March 2017.[5][6] He has an image as a Hindutva firebrand.[1][7][8][9]

He was appointed as the Chief Minister on 26 March 2017 after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the 2017 State Assembly elections, in which he was a prominent campaigner.[10][11][12] He has been the Member of Parliament from the Gorakhpur constituency, Uttar Pradesh for five consecutive terms since 1998.[13] Adityanath is also the Mahant or head priest of the Gorakhnath Math, a Hindu temple in Gorakhpur, a position he has held since the death of his spiritual "father", Mahant Avaidyanath, in September 2014. He is also the founder of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, an extremist and militant youth organisation that has been involved in communal violence.[14][15]

Early life and education

Yogi Adityanath was born as Ajay Mohan Bisht on 5 June 1972 in the village of Panchur, in Pauri Garhwal, Uttar Pradesh (now in Uttarakhand).[1][2][16][17] His father Anand Singh Bisht was a forest ranger.[18] He was the second born in the family, among four brothers and three sisters.[18] He completed his bachelor's degree in Mathematics from the Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University in Uttarakhand.[19][20]

He left his home around the 1990s to join the Ayodhya Ram temple movement. He came under the influence of Mahant Avaidyanath, the chief priest of the Gorakhnath Math and became his disciple. Subsequently, he was given the name 'Yogi Adityanath' and designated as the successor of the Mahant Avaidyanath. While based in Gorakhpur after his initiation, Adityanath has often visited his ancestral village, establishing a school there in 1998.[18]

Gorakhnath Math

Adityanath renounced his family at the age of 21 and became a disciple of Mahant Avaidyanath, the then high priest of Gorakhnath Math.[19] He was promoted to the rank of Mahant or high priest of the Gorakhnath Math, following the death of his teacher Mahant Aavaidyanath on 12 September 2014. Yogi Adityanath was made Peethadhishwar of the Math amid traditional rituals of the Nath sect on 14 September 2014.[21]

Politics

Scholar Christophe Jaffrelot states that Yogi Adityanath belongs to a specific tradition of Hindutva politics in Uttar Pradesh that can be traced back to the Mahant Digvijay Nath, who led the capture of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya for Hindus on 22 December 1949.[22][23] Both Digvijay Nath and his successor, Mahant Avaidyanath, belonged to the Hindu Mahasabha and were elected to the Parliament on that party's ticket. After the BJP and the Sangh Parivar joined the Ayodhya movement in the 1980s, the two strands of Hindu nationalism came together. Avaidyanath switched to the BJP in 1991, but nevertheless maintained significant autonomy. Yogi Adityanath was appointed Avaidyanath's successor as the Mahant of Gorakhnath Math in 1994. Four years later, he was elected to the Lower House of the Indian Parliament (the Lok Sabha).[22]

After his first electoral win, Adityanath started his own militant youth wing Hindu Yuva Vahini, which has been known for violent activities in the eastern Uttar Pradesh but was instrumental in Adityanath's meteoric rise. There have been recurrent tensions between Adityanath and the BJP leadership over the allocation of election tickets. However, the BJP has not let the tensions mount because Adityanath has served as a star campaigner for the party.[22][24][25]

In 2006, he took up links between Nepali Maoists and Indian Leftist parties as key campaign issue and encouraged Madhesi leaders to oppose Maoism in Nepal.[14][26]

Member of Parliament

Adityanath was the youngest member of the 12th Lok Sabha at 26. He has been elected to the Parliament from Gorakhpur for five consecutive terms (in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014 elections).[4][27]

Adityanath's attendance in Lok Sabha was 77% and he has asked 284 questions, participated in 56 debates and introduced three private member Bills in the 16th Lok Sabha.[28]

Relations with the BJP

Adityanath has had strained relations with the BJP for more than a decade.[29] He often derided and undermined the BJP, criticising its dilution of the Hindutva ideology.[30] Having established his own independent power base in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, with the support of the Hindu Yuva Vahini and the Gorakhnath Math, he felt confident to be able to dictate terms to the BJP. When his voice was not heard, he revolted by fielding candidates against the official BJP candidates. The most prominent example was the fielding of Radha Mohan Das Agarwal from Gorakhpur on a Hindu Mahasabha ticket in 2002, who then defeated BJP Cabinet minister, Shiv Pratap Shukla by a wide margin.[30] In 2007, Adityanath threatened to field 70 candidates for the state assembly against the BJP candidates. But he reached a compromise in the end.[31][32][33] In 2009 Parliamentary elections, Adityanath was rumoured to have campaigned against the BJP candidates who were then defeated.[30]

Despite his periodic revolts, Yogi Adityanath has been kept in good humour by the RSS and the BJP leaders. The deputy prime minister L. K. Advani, the RSS chief Rajendra Singh and the VHP chief Ashok Singhal have visited him in Gorakhpur. During 22–24 December 2006, Adityanath organised a three-day Virat Hindu Mahasammelan at Gorakhpur at the same time as the BJP National Executive Meet in Lucknow. Despite the conflict, several RSS and VHP leaders attended the Mahasammelan, which issued a commitment to pursue the Hindutva goals despite the BJP's claimed "abandonment" of them.[30][34]

In March 2010, Adityanath was one of the several BJP MPs who defied the party whip on the Women's Reservation Bill in the Parliament.[35][36]

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh

He was a prominent campaigner for the BJP in the 2017 assembly elections in the state of Uttar Pradesh. He was appointed Chief Minister, of the state on Saturday, 18 March 2017 [37] and sworn in the next day on 19 March, after the BJP won the assembly elections.[10][11][12] The illegal slaughterhouses in Uttar Pradesh faced shutdowns from the administration after his becoming the Chief Minister.[38] Yogi ordered the forming of anti-romeo squads.[39] He imposed a blanket ban on cow-smuggling and stay on UPPSC results, exams and interviews till further order.[40] He imposed a ban on tobacco, pan and gutka in government offices across the state and made the officials pledge to devote 100 hours every year for the Swachh Bharat Mission.[41] More than 100 policemen were suspended by the Uttar Pradesh police.[42]

After becoming the CM of UP, he kept around 36 ministries to himself including Home, Housing, Town and country planning department, Revenue, Food and Civil Supplies, Food Security and drug administration, Economics and statistics, Mines and Minerals, Flood control, stamp and registry, prison, general administration, secretariat administration, vigilance, personnel and appointment, information, institutional finance, planning, estate department, urban land, UP state reorganisation committee, administration reforms, programme implementation, national integration, infrastructure, coordination, language, external aided project, Relief and Rehabilitation, Public Service Management, Rent Control, Consumer protection, weights and measures.[43][44]

In his first cabinet meeting held on 4 April 2017, decision was taken to waive off loans of nearly 87 lakh small and marginal farmers of Uttar Pradesh, amounting to ₹363.59 billion (US$4.4 billion).[45][46] For India's Independence Day celebrations in 2017, his government singled-out Muslim religious schools to provide video evidence that their students had sung the Indian national anthem.[47]

Controversies

In 2005, Adityanath has been involved in a 'purification drive' that involved the conversion of about 1,800 Christians to Hinduism in the town of Etah in UP. He said that he wouldn't stop until he turns Uttar Pradesh and India into a Hindu state.[48][49]

In January 2007, an altercation occurred amidst a Hindu group and Muslims during a Muharram procession in Gorakhpur which led to the hospitalisation of a young Hindu, Raj Kumar Agrahari. The District Magistrate said that Adityanath must not visit the site as it may create tensions. He initially agreed but after Agrahari died, he disobeyed the magistrate and travelled to the site and started a non-violent dharna on the site with a group of followers. Inflammatory speeches were made and some of his followers set fire to a nearby Muslim mausoleum.[50][51] A curfew implemented by the local police was broken by Adityanath and he was subsequently arrested and remanded for a fortnight on charges of disturbing peace.[52][53] His arrest led to further unrest and several coaches of the Mumbai bound Mumbai-Gorakhpur Godan Express were burnt, allegedly by protesting Hindu Yuva Vahini activists.[54] The day after the arrest, the District Magistrate and the local police chief were transferred and replaced. This was widely perceived as a result of "Adityanath's clout" with the then Uttar Pradesh government of Mulayam Singh Yadav.[50][53][55] The tensions soon escalated to riots across Gorakhpur leading to the burning of mosques, homes, buses and trains.[48][50] After his release, Adityanath protested his jailing in the Parliament.[56]

In 2011, the documentary film Saffron War – Radicalization of Hinduism accused Adityanath of promoting communal disharmony in Uttar Pradesh through hate speeches.[57][58][59] In August 2014, political activist and lawyer Shehzaad Poonawala wrote to the National Commission for Minorities demanding that a police First Information Report be filed against Yogi Adityanath.[60]

Statements

In 2010, when opposing the Women's Reservation Bill, Adityanath said that reservation doesn't affect women's domestic responsibilities like childcare. He added that if men develop feminine traits they become gods, but if women develop masculine traits they become demons.[35][61]

In an undated video that surfaced on YouTube during August 2014, Adityanath, reportedly during a public speech at Azamgarh, referring to the religious conversions due to inter-religious marriages, has said, "if they take one Hindu girl, we will take 100 Muslims girls." In the same video, he continues to say, "if they kill one Hindu, there will be 100 that we" and pauses, as the gathered crowd shouts: "kill".[62][49][63]

In February 2015, while speaking at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s ‘Virat Hindu Sammelan’, Adityanath commented: "If given a chance, we will install statues of Goddess Gauri, Ganesh and Nandi " — Hindu deities — "in every mosque."[64][8][65][66]

In June 2015, Adityanath, while talking about Surya Namaskara, and Yoga said that those who want to avoid Yoga can leave Hindustan. He "requested" those who see communalism in the Sun God to drown themselves in the sea or live in a dark room for the rest of their lives.[67]

During the intolerance debate in the Indian media in late 2015, Adityanath commented that actor Shah Rukh Khan was using the same "language" as Pakistani terrorist Hafiz Saeed.[68][69]

On 3 January 2016, a day after the terrorist attack on an Indian air force base in Pathankot allegedly by Pakistani terrorists, Adityanath compared Pakistan to Satan.[70]

Adityanath has praised the US President Donald Trump's decision to enact a ban on citizens from 7 Muslim-majority countries entering the United States and has called for India to adopt similar policies to tackle terrorism.[71]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Some sources state the name as "Ajay Singh Bisht"[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Ellen Barry (18 March 2017), "Firebrand Hindu Cleric Yogi Adityanath Picked as Uttar Pradesh Minister", The New York Times
  2. ^ a b Who is Yogi Adityanath? MP, head of Gorakhnath temple and a political rabble-rouser, Hindustan Times, 6 April 2017.
  3. ^ In The End, This Is What Worked In Yogi Adityanath's Favour, 18 March 2017.
  4. ^ a b Shri Yogi Adityanath: Members bioprofile, Sixteenth Lok Sabha, retrieved 19 March 2017.
  5. ^ "Modi's party picks Yogi Adityanath, strident Hindu nationalist priest, as leader of India's biggest state". Washington Post. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  6. ^ Safi, Michael (25 March 2017). "Rise of Hindu 'extremist' spooks Muslim minority in India's heartland". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  7. ^ "Yogi Adityanath, Hindutva Firebrand, Is The New CM Of UP". Huffington Post India. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  8. ^ a b "India's prime minister just selected an anti-Muslim firebrand to lead its largest state". Vox. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  9. ^ "Wag the dog: On Yogi Adityanath as UP CM". The Hindu. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  10. ^ a b "BJP's Adityanath sworn in as UP chief minister with 2 deputies". The Times of India. 19 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  11. ^ a b "Hindu firebrand Yogi Adityanath picked as Uttar Pradesh chief minister". BBC News. 18 March 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  12. ^ a b "Yogi Adityanath is new Uttar Pradesh CM, will have two deputies". The Indian Express. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  13. ^ Singh, Akhilesh (22 March 2017). "Yogi, Parrikar and Maurya to stay MPs till President polls in July". The Times of India. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  14. ^ a b Jha, Prashant (1 January 2014). Battles of the New Republic: A Contemporary History of Nepal. Oxford University Press. p. 110. ISBN 9781849044592.
  15. ^ Violette Graff and Juliette Galonnier (20 August 2013). "Hindu-Muslim Communal Riots in India II (1986-2011)". Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence; Sciences Po. pp. 30, 31. Retrieved 20 April 2017. He founded the youth militia Hindu Yuva Vahini, known for its violent activities in the sub-region of Poorvanchal in eastern UP.
  16. ^ "Saffron power in Gorakhpur". Thehindu.com. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  17. ^ "Smart father's 'simple' son battles a Yogi". Telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  18. ^ a b c Anupam Trivedi, Father, villagers in Uttarakhand elated over Yogi Adityanath’s elevation as UP CM, Hindustan Times, 19 March 2017.
  19. ^ a b "Yogi Adityanath, a Maths graduate who became a sanyasi", The Economic Times, 19 March 2017
  20. ^ "How a Pauri youth turned into Yogi". The Times of India. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  21. ^ Verma, Lalmani (15 September 2014). "Yogi Adityanath anointed Gorakshnath Peeth head seer, political clout set to rise". The Indian Express. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  22. ^ a b c Jaffrelot, Christophe (6 October 2014). "The other saffron". Indian Express. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  23. ^ Jha, Krishna; Jha, Dhirendra K. (2012). Ayodhya: The Dark Night. HarperCollins India. ISBN 978-93-5029-600-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  24. ^ Graff, Violette; Galonnier, Juliette (20 August 2013). "Hindu–Muslim Communal Riots in India II (1986–2011)". Sciences Po.
  25. ^ Uttar Pradesh's next CM Yogi Adityanath, a mascot of unapologetic Hindutva, Daily News and Analysis, 18 March 2017.
  26. ^ "Encounter with Adityanath | NewSpotLight Nepal News Magazine". www.spotlightnepal.com. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  27. ^ "In Lok Sabha, Yogi Adityanath takes a dig at Rahul-Akhilesh partnership", The Times of India, 21 March 2017
  28. ^ "Yogi Adityanath's Lok Sabha attendance is 77%, Amarinder Singh's 6%", The Economic Times, 21 March 2017
  29. ^ Sharad Gupta (28 September 1999). "Group war peaks in Uttar Pradesh". Indian Express.
  30. ^ a b c d Basu, Violent Conjunctures in Democratic India 2015, p. 222.
  31. ^ Voll, Klaus Julian (2016), "Power Games or Programmatic Evolution in the BJP", in Hartmut Elsenhans; Rachid Ouaissa; Mary Ann Tétreault (eds.), The Transformation of Politicised Religion: From Zealots Into Leaders, Routledge, pp. 131–142, ISBN 978-1-317-01360-0
  32. ^ Atiq Khan (28 March 2007). "Yogi's revolt may hit BJP: Ex-BJP leader to go it alone in U.P". Chennai, India: The Hindu. Retrieved 26 April 2007.
  33. ^ Mohua Chatterjee (30 March 2007). "Adityanath back in BJP, 8 nominees get tickets". Times of India. Retrieved 26 April 2007.
  34. ^ Gatade, Subhash (11 February 2007), "The Yogi and the Fanatic", People's Democracy, vol. XXXI, no. 6
  35. ^ a b "Adityanath adds to BJP woes on women's Bill". Hindustan Times. 12 April 2010. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  36. ^ "Split wide open: BJP divided over Women's Reservation Bill". 12 March 2012. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  37. ^ Firebrand Hindu Cleric Yogi Adityanath Picked as Uttar Pradesh Minister [1]
  38. ^ "Yogi wave: Illegal meat shops shut in UP's Ghaziabad; action initiated against cops for neglect of duty", India Today, 22 March 2017
  39. ^ "UP CM Yogi Adityanath's appointment and decisions have trapped Oppn and liberals", Hindustan Times, 28 March 2017
  40. ^ "Yogi Adityanath gets cracking: 3 days, 5 big decisions of new Uttar Pradesh chief minister", India Today, 22 March 2017
  41. ^ "Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Bans Paan Masala, Gutka In UP Offices", NDTV, 22 March 2017
  42. ^ "Over 100 Policemen Suspended in UP After New Govt Takes Over", News 18, 23 March 2017
  43. ^ "CM Yogi Adityanath keeps home, revenue: UP portfolio allocation highlights", Hindustan Times, 22 March 2017
  44. ^ "Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath allocates portfolios, keeps home", Live Mint, 23 March 2017
  45. ^ "Yogi Adityanath-led UP govt waives off farm loans worth Rs 36,359 cr", The Economic Times, 4 April 2017
  46. ^ "Yogi Adityanath gives big relief to farmers, waives of loans of Rs 30729 crore in first cabinet meet", The Financial Express (India), 4 April 2017
  47. ^ "The unfinished Partition of India and Pakistan". The Economist. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  48. ^ a b "'When I Ask Them To Rise And Protect Our Hindu Culture, They Obey Me'". Tehelka. 14 February 2009. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  49. ^ a b "From love jihad, conversion to SRK: 10 controversial comments by UP's new CM Yogi Adityanath". Hindustan Times. 18 March 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  50. ^ a b c Subhashini Ali (27 February 2007). "Hindutva's Uncivil Society in Eastern UP: Its time stop the hate spewing yogi of Gorakhpur". SACW.net Communalism Repository. Archived from the original on 7 June 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  51. ^ "Violence hits parts of eastern UP, curfew in Gorakhpur area". 29 January 2008.
  52. ^ "`Jailhouse rock' for Yogi & Cohost Amarmani". Hindustan Times. 2 February 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  53. ^ a b Apoorvanand (17 February 2007). "Riot, manufactured in Gorakhpur". Tehelka. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2007. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  54. ^ Shahira Naim (2 February 2007). "Vahini activists set train ablaze". Tribune News Service. Archived from the original on 28 April 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2007. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  55. ^ Shahira Naim (30 January 2007). "Gorakhpur: DM, SSP removed". Tribune News Service. Retrieved 26 April 2007.
  56. ^ "Monk MP breaks down in tears in parliament". Reuters. 12 March 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2007.
  57. ^ Kumar, Sudha Pai and Sajjan. "How Yogi Adityanath Made it to Where He Is". thewire.in. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  58. ^ "Saffron War unveils Hindutva terrorism: Sandeep Pandey". www.milligazette.com. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  59. ^ Ram Puniyani (15 April 2011). "Documentary on the ugly face of Hindutva". The Milli Gazette. p. 3. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  60. ^ Activist writes to minority commission against Yogi Adityanath, demands FIR for hate-speech, India Today, 28 August 2014
  61. ^ "7 controversial statements of Yogi Adityanath on women, minorities". Asianet News Network Pvt Ltd. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  62. ^ "A bizarre analysis of riots, by Yogi Adityanath". India Today. 31 August 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  63. ^ "Hindutva Jihad: 'If They Kill One Hindu, 100 Will Be...'". Outlook India. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  64. ^ "Amnesty International Wants UP CM Yogi Adityanath To Publicly Retract Statements Against Muslims". Huffington Post India. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  65. ^ "Top five controversial statements by new Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath". The Economic Times. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  66. ^ "Given a chance, will put Ganesh idols in all mosques: Yogi Adityanath". Deccan Chronicle. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  67. ^ "Those who want to avoid Yoga can leave India: Yogi Adityanath". The Hindu. 9 June 2015.
  68. ^ "BJP MP Yogi Adityanath: No difference in language of Shah Rukh Khan and Hafiz Saeed". Times of India. Retrieved 18 March 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  69. ^ "SRK talks like Hafiz Saeed, can go to Pakistan: Yogi Adityanath". Indianexpress.com. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  70. ^ "This BJP MP thinks Pakistan is worse than Satan". Tribune.com. 3 January 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  71. ^ "BJP's Yogi Adityanath Praises Trump Ban, Compares Western UP To Kashmir". NDTV. 31 January 2017.

Bibliography

Lok Sabha
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Member for Gorakhpur
1998–2017 		Succeeded by
Vacant
Political offices
Preceded by Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
19 March 2017 – Present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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