Uttar Pradesh polls: Yogi Adityanath takes lead in BJP strategy

Lucknow: It’s out in the open now. The BJP is no more scared to use the word ‘communal’. The by-polls in Uttar Pradesh would be fought on communal lines. And BJP made it quite clear when they opted for Yogi Adityanath, the firebrand MP from Gorakhpur, as the party’s campaign chief. If this means polarizing voters by appealing to their religious identity, so be it.

Recently, a video clip showed Adityanath making provocative statements:

“Convert 100 Muslims for each Hindu converted to Islam”

A few days after the clip was aired, Adityanath in a TV interview had given his own explanation on the relationship between the number of Muslims in a place and communal tension:

“Stray communal incidents take place where there are 10 to 20 percent Muslims. Communal riots become serious where they constitute 20 to 35 percent of the population. Where they are more than 35 percent, there is no place for non-Muslims,”

While the source of this statistical conclusion was not clear, what is clear is the fact that Adityanath is aiming at creating a communal divide ahead of the September 13 polling for the by-elections for 11 assembly seats. He had told mediapersons that the BJP’s campaign would highlight problems the Hindu community was facing under the Samajwadi Party regime in Uttar Pradesh.

“Hindus are being netted in false cases, they are being sent to jail and are insulted. Mulayam’s SP is responsible for this and we will highlight this,” he said.

For the BJP, Yogi Adityanath is a front-ender like no other. Mahant of the revered Gorakhnath Math in Gorakhpur, this saffron-robed member of Lok Sabha from Gorakhpur is not only temperamental but is rarely seen smiling or in a pleasant mood. A Thakur who belongs to the Nath sampraday, he has been known for keeping Brahmins at bay. He has had an uneasy relationship with the BJP leadership in the past few years but has now emerged on the state’s political scene with a specific responsibility – to consolidate the BJP’s electoral gains. With his aggressive Hindutva stance, he has been throwing an open challenge for the state police to arrest him. The state administration, on its part, is wary of taking him head-on since it may lead to a serious law and order problem.

It is learnt that Adityanath will be devoting considerable time for campaigning even for the Lok Sabha by-elections in Mainpuri. This seat had been vacated by SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav after he won from Azamgarh also. Mulayam’s grand nephew Tej Pratap Singh Yadav is the SP candidate from here. The assembly seats are Bijnore, Thakurdwara (Moradabad), Saharanpur, Noida in western UP, Nighasan, Balha (Bahraich), Lucknow East, Hamirpur, Charkhari, Sirathu and Rohaniya in central and eastern UP.

Adityanath has also said that he would raise the issue of love jihad during the campaign since it is a threat to Hindu society. This is in contrast to the recently-concluded state executive meet of the BJP in Vrindavan where the subject was discussed prior to the executive, but was excluded from the resolution passed at the end. Instead, the issue of forced conversion and subsequent deterioration in the communal environment was included in the resolution.

The brazen communal line has caught the political rivals off guard. Neither the Samajwadi Party nor the Congress appears prepared with a response to it. Interestingly, the SP is trying to avoid presenting a strongly pro-Muslim image in the campaigning. Senior minister Mohammad Azam Khan is not involved in the by-election campaign and the party has also avoided fielding too many Muslim candidates in time, as opposed to the Lok Sabha election. The BSP has stayed off by-polls and has announced support to independent candidates.