UP CM Yogi Adityanath: Back home, proud parents believe that he will prove his worth

Panchur (Yamkeshwar): Uttar Pradesh may have been bustling with all the political hullaballoo with the elevation of Yogi Aadityanath to the chief minister's post, but his scenic native village in the lap of mountains is busy offering humble courtesy to the sudden inflow of visitors. Panchur is a small village just 100 km away from Uttarakhand’s capital and 5 km from Yamkeshwar in Pauri district. Widespread green landscape doesn’t let anyone believe that it is the cradle of Uttar Pradesh's most firebrand Hindu hardliner Yogi Adityanath, now chief minister of India’s largest state.

Adityanath's mother Savitri Devi. Namita Singh

Eighty-year-old mother of Yogi, Savitri Devi finds it difficult to express her pleasure and her words often get drowned in emotions, streaming down her eyes. While asking about the big achievement of her son, Savitri Devi humbly said, “ham nahin maante” (We don’t say he is a big man).

Relatives and well-wishers have gathered at Adityanath's house giving the impression of some sort of a celebration or special event at home. Adityanath's childhood friends, maternal uncle, sisters — all want to say something about the Yogi. After the prolonged spiritual life and his religious legacy, the Yogi is called Maharajji even by his parents. Savitri Devi says, "He (Adityanath) cares for me and calls me very often. Whenever I visit Delhi, he comes to receive me."

A retired forest ranger and an emotional man, Aanand Singh Bisht, Yogi Adityanath’s father denies all allegations of the Yogi being a Hindu hardliner but admits that his son has to develop a more cordial and generous attitude to run the state. He praises his son’s concern for his proper health. The proud father who hails from a humble background often reflects in his relaxed pauses during the conversation and tries his best to convince that now 'sabka sath and sabka vikaas' will be the sole aim in his son's life.

Younger brother, Mahendra Bisht who works in a Hindi newspaper, said that as a youth Yogi never had political aspirations or out-of-the-box ideas, instead, he was humble, social and very much concerned about the education of his siblings, friends and cousins. Mahendra recalls memories of an occasion when his studious elder brother was furious at having found that one of his friends had fallen into bad company.

Yogi Adityanath's father Aanand Singh Bisht. Namita Singh

Villagers present there, are all adamant to shun the Yogi’s image of a Hindu hardliner and says that he works for everyone irrespective of any religion, caste and community. Answering the questions about his venomous statements against certain religion in the past, they try to prove a sudden and remarkable change in his attitude the moment responsibility was shouldered on him. They believe he will prove a good administrator and control the unbridled bureaucracy in the Uttar Pradesh. His religious inclinations will never allow him to let corruption survive in the state, they added.

"He believes in the broader spectrum of Hinduism that advocates sarv dharm sambhav, a philosophy that was embraced by Ramakrishna Paramhans and Vivekanand, Shashidhar Uniyal," one of the residents of Panchur village said. He was never a brilliant orator and he never took a keen interest in college politics. It was just fun for him, one of his juniors from his school and college days, Harish Sati, recalled.

"He was one year senior to me when he was pursuing M Sc in mathematics from a college in Rishikesh. Considering the absence of a college for higher education within 100 km radius, Yogi managed to build a degree college near his village where many villagers got employed. Yogi’s elder brother Manendra Singh sees management there," Sati informed.