YOGI ADITYANATH STORY

 

Yogi Adityanath (Ajay Singh Bisht; born 5 June 1972) is the Mahant of the famous Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur and is an Indian Hindu monk and politician serving as the 22nd and current Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh since 19 March 2017. He took oath as the 21st Chief Minister of the state on March 19, 2017, following the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state assembly elections. He represented Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency on Bharatiya Janata Party ticket from 1998 to 2017 and was also elected as an MP from here in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Adityanath is the successor of former Mahant Avaidyanath of Gorakhnath temple. He is also the founder of Hindu Yuva Vahini, a social, cultural and nationalist group of Hindu youth, and has the image of a strong nationalist leader.

Early life and education

Yogi Adityanath was born on 5 June 1972 in a Garhwali Kshatriya family in Panchur village of Yamkeshwar tehsil located in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand (now in Uttar Pradesh). His father's name is Anand Singh Bisht who was a forest ranger, and his mother's name is Savitri Devi. His father Anand Singh Bisht died on 20 April 2020. He was the fifth of the seven children of his parents after three elder sisters and one elder brother and has two more younger brothers. He started his studies in 1977 at a local school in Gaza, Tehri and passed the 10th examination from here in 1987. In 1989, he passed the Intermediate examination from Shri Bharat Mandir Inter (College, Rishikesh). During his graduation in 1990, he joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. In 1992, he passed B.Sc in Mathematics from Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Srinagar. During his stay in Kotdwar, belongings were stolen from his room which also contained his Sanat certificate. For this reason his attempt to do a master's degree in science from Gorakhpur failed. He then again took admission in postgraduate science in Rishikesh, but due to the impact of the Ram Mandir movement and the problem of admission, his attention was diverted. I went to the shelter of my uncle Mahant Avaidyanath and took initiation. He became a complete sadhu in 1994, after which his name was changed from Ajay Singh Bisht to Yogi Adityanath. After the death of former Mahant Avaidyanath of Gorakhnath temple on 12 September 2014, he was made the Mahant here. Two days later he was made the Peethadheeshwar of the temple according to the traditional customs of the Nath Panth.

Early political career 

Yogi Adityanath belongs to a distinctive tradition of Hindutva politics in Uttar Pradesh, with Avaidyanath entering the BJP in 1991, but still maintaining significant autonomy. Four years after Adityanath was named Avaidyanath's successor, he was elected to the lower house of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha). After his first electoral victory, Adityanath started his own youth organization, the Hindu Yuva Vahini, which became known for its activities in eastern Uttar Pradesh and was instrumental in Adityanath's meteoric rise. There have been frequent tensions between Adityanath and the BJP leadership over the distribution of election tickets. However, the BJP did not let the tension escalate as Adityanath has acted as a star campaigner for the party. In 2006, he approached as a major campaign issue between Nepalese Maoists and Indian Left parties and encouraged Madhesi leaders to oppose Maoists in Nepal.

Member of parliament

Adityanath was the youngest member of the 12th Lok Sabha at the age of 26. He was elected to the Parliament from Gorakhpur for five consecutive terms (in the elections of 1998, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014). Adityanath had 77% attendance in the Lok Sabha and has asked 284 questions, participated in 56 debates and introduced three private member bills in the 16th Lok Sabha.

Relations with BJP

 Yogi Adityanath has had a strained relationship with the BJP for over a decade. He often ridiculed and undermined the BJP, criticizing the weakening of the Hindutva ideology. Having established his independent power base in eastern Uttar Pradesh, with the support of the Hindu Yuva Vahini and the Gorakhnath Math, he was confident that he would be able to set the conditions for the BJP. When his voice was not heard, he revolted by fielding candidates against official candidates of the BJP. The most prominent example was Radha Mohan Das Agarwal fielding from Gorakhpur on Hindu Mahasabha ticket in 2002, who defeated then BJP cabinet minister Shiv Pratap Shukla by a large margin. In 2007, Adityanath threatened to field 70 candidates for the state assembly against BJP candidates. But in the end he reached a compromise. In the 2009 parliamentary elections, Adityanath was rumored to have campaigned against BJP candidates who were then defeated. Despite his periodic revolts, Yogi Adityanath has been kept in good humor by RSS and BJP leaders. Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, RSS chief Rajendra Singh and VHP chief Ashok Singhal met him in Gorakhpur. During 22–24 December 2006, Adityanath organized a three-day Virat Hindu Mahasammelan in Gorakhpur, at the same time a meeting of the BJP's national executive was held in Lucknow. Despite the struggle, several RSS and VHP leaders participated in the Mahasammelan, which issued a commitment to further the goals of Hindutva, while what the BJP claimed was "renunciation".In March 2010, Adityanath was one of several BJP MPs who defied the party whip on the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament.In 2018, he campaigned for Pratap Puriji Maharaj, the BJP candidate for the Rajasthan state assembly election. 

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh

Adityanath was a prominent campaigner for the BJP in the 2017 assembly elections in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The state government appointed him Chief Minister on 18 March 2017 he was sworn in the next day, after the BJP won the assembly elections The illegal slaughterhouses in Uttar Pradesh faced shutdowns from the administration after his becoming chief minister. Adityanath ordered the forming of quasi-vigilante anti-"romeo" squads.He imposed a blanket ban on cow-smuggling and a stay on UPPSC civil service exam results, exams and interviews until further order.  He imposed a ban on the vices of tobacco, paan and gutka in government offices across the state, and compelled officials to pledge to devote 100 hours every year for the Swachh Bharat Mission. More than 100 "black sheep" policemen were suspended by the Uttar Pradesh police. After becoming the CM of UP, he kept around 36 ministries under his direct control, 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 and Weights and measures.In his first cabinet meeting, held on 4 April 2017, the decision was taken to forgive loans to nearly 87 lakh (8,700,000) small and marginal farmers of Uttar Pradesh, amounting to ₹363.59 billion (US$4.8 billion).For India's Independence Day celebrations in 2017, his government singled out Muslim religious schools, requiring them to provide video evidence that their students had sung the Indian national anthem.In July 2018, Adityanath, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Moon Jae-in, president of South Korea, inaugurated the world's largest smartphone manufacturing factory in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.His government was credited for making 50 megawatts of power and a 22-km-long electricity line in a record four months for the Samsung mobile plant.The New York Times relayed analysts' estimations of Adityanath as a candidate for Prime Minister of India in 2024, provided he "delivers on some fronts". In August 2020, India Today's "Mood of the nation" survey showed Adityanath as the best-performing chief minister in India.In September 2020, Adityanath asked his government to devise a strategy to prevent "religious conversions in the name of love", and even considered passing an ordinance for the same if needed. On 31 October, Adityanath announced that a Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020 to curb "Love Jihad"[c] would be passed by his government.The Uttar Pradesh state cabinet cleared Adityanath's ordinance on 24 November 2020. following which it was approved and signed by state Governor Anandiben Patel on 28 November 2020. In July 2021, Adityanath introduced the UP population control draft bill 2021–2030. On the event of World Population Day, the chief minister unveiled the policy on reducing the population growth for the forthcoming years. There were also several benefits announced based on the laid single child and two-child policies. He said The state population policy focused on efforts to increase the accessibility of contraceptive measures issued under the Family Planning Programme and provide a proper system for safe abortion.This policy also received lots of reactions and criticisms from other political parties. It was said that this policy mainly focused on the upcoming general elections in the state. The opposition Congress in the state has called it a "political agenda" and the Samajwadi Party said it is "murder of democracy".

Personal views

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
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.

Controversies 

In January 2007, Adityanath with other BJP leaders had gathered to mourn the death of a man who was killed because of religious violence. He and his supporters were subsequently arrested by the police and lodged in Gorkhapur jail on the charges of disturbing peace and violating prohibitory orders. His arrest led to further unrest during which several coaches of the Mumbai bound Mumbai-Gorakhpur Godan Express were burnt, allegedly by protesting Hindu Yuva Vahini activists.The day after the arrest, the District Magistrate and the local police chief were transferred and replaced.In 2011, the documentary film Saffron War – Radicalization of Hinduism accused Adityanath of promoting communal disharmony in Uttar Pradesh through hate speech. In 2017, his government ordered withdrawal of around 20,000 "politically motivated" cases, including those against himself and other politicians.

Statements 

In 2010, when opposing the Women's Reservation Bill, Adityanath said that reservation doesn't affect women's domestic responsibilities such as childcare. He added that if men develop feminine traits they become gods, but if women develop masculine traits they become demons.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 by saying, "if they kill one Hindu, there will be 100 that we" and pauses, as the gathered crowd shouts: "kill".

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."
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.
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.