Yogi Adityanath picked to develop Uttar Pradesh
LUCKNOW: Pipping several contenders to the post, Gorakhpur MP and Hindutva face Yogi Adityanath became the 21st chief minister of Uttar Pradesh with the 312 BJP MLAs choosing him unanimously at a meeting here. BJP state unit chief Keshav Prasad Maurya and Lucknow mayor Dinesh Sharma will be deputy chief ministers.
Yogi Adityanath, 44, whose real name is Ajay Singh Bisht, is the mahant of the Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur. Into his fifth Lok Sabha term, Adityanath took over as mahant of the temple from Yogi Avaidyanath, his guru. He hails from Uttarakhand.
The BJP chose an upper caste Thakur as chief minister though it won the election mainly by wooing the Most Backward Classes (MBC) to supplement its Brahmin-Bania support base. As a balancing act, Maurya, from MBC, and Sharma, a Brahmin, have been chosen as his deputies.
The combination also shows that the BJP will continue with this successful caste formula in UP in the Lok Sabha elections just two years away.
At the BJP legislature party meeting here, Shahjahanpur MLA Suresh Khanna, the most senior BJP lawmaker among the newly elected, proposed the name of Adityanath. His proposal was seconded by BJP MLAs Dara Singh Chauhan, Swami Prasad Maurya, SPS Baghel and eight others. While thanking the MLAs for electing him chief minister, Adityanath said since the state is so big he would need two deputies to govern it.
Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who was one of the central observers along with BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav, then proposed the names of Maurya and Sharma. BJP chief Amit Shah was intimated on the phone about the whole proceedings.
Earlier in the day, Maurya and Adityanath had met Shah before the latter left for Dehradun to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Trivendra Singh Rawat as Uttarakhand CM.
It is clear that the BJP central leadership has tried to take along all satraps of the party in UP. Adityanath had thrown his weight around during the finalisation of tickets and later in the election campaign. Maurya too had put in a lot of hard work as state unit chief.
He was also the MBC face of the party in the elections and was deeply involved in choosing the BJP candidates. Sharma has been chosen, keeping the upper caste support base in mind. The party felt that Brahmins, who have been supporting the BJP since the BSP and the Congress became weak, should be given representation. The chief minister, deputy CMs and ministers will take oath on Sunday. NDA partners Apna Dal and SBSP will also be given ministerial berths.
Other than the chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, Andhra Pradesh’s N Chandrababu Naidu, Tamil Nadu’s EK Palaniswamy and Sikkim’s Pawan Kumar Chamling have been invited for the ceremony. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah and Union ministers will also be present.
Yogi Adityanath, 44, whose real name is Ajay Singh Bisht, is the mahant of the Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur. Into his fifth Lok Sabha term, Adityanath took over as mahant of the temple from Yogi Avaidyanath, his guru. He hails from Uttarakhand.
The BJP chose an upper caste Thakur as chief minister though it won the election mainly by wooing the Most Backward Classes (MBC) to supplement its Brahmin-Bania support base. As a balancing act, Maurya, from MBC, and Sharma, a Brahmin, have been chosen as his deputies.
The combination also shows that the BJP will continue with this successful caste formula in UP in the Lok Sabha elections just two years away.
At the BJP legislature party meeting here, Shahjahanpur MLA Suresh Khanna, the most senior BJP lawmaker among the newly elected, proposed the name of Adityanath. His proposal was seconded by BJP MLAs Dara Singh Chauhan, Swami Prasad Maurya, SPS Baghel and eight others. While thanking the MLAs for electing him chief minister, Adityanath said since the state is so big he would need two deputies to govern it.
Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who was one of the central observers along with BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav, then proposed the names of Maurya and Sharma. BJP chief Amit Shah was intimated on the phone about the whole proceedings.
Earlier in the day, Maurya and Adityanath had met Shah before the latter left for Dehradun to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Trivendra Singh Rawat as Uttarakhand CM.
It is clear that the BJP central leadership has tried to take along all satraps of the party in UP. Adityanath had thrown his weight around during the finalisation of tickets and later in the election campaign. Maurya too had put in a lot of hard work as state unit chief.
He was also the MBC face of the party in the elections and was deeply involved in choosing the BJP candidates. Sharma has been chosen, keeping the upper caste support base in mind. The party felt that Brahmins, who have been supporting the BJP since the BSP and the Congress became weak, should be given representation. The chief minister, deputy CMs and ministers will take oath on Sunday. NDA partners Apna Dal and SBSP will also be given ministerial berths.
Other than the chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, Andhra Pradesh’s N Chandrababu Naidu, Tamil Nadu’s EK Palaniswamy and Sikkim’s Pawan Kumar Chamling have been invited for the ceremony. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah and Union ministers will also be present.
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