Yogi Adityanath to be the next chief minister of UP.

Uttar Pradesh will have two deputy chief ministers in Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma. The BJP incharge in UP would be Om Mathur.

Yogi Adityanath Profile:

Adityanath has had a strained relation with the BJP for more than a decade. With the emergence of a separate powerbase in eastern UP, he has been seeking greater power, causing further conflicts.

In December 2006, Adityanath had organised a three-day Virat Hindu Mahasammelan at Gorakhpur, during the same period when the BJP was holding its National Executive Meet in Lucknow.

The 2007 elections saw a conflict between Adityanath and the BJP leadership — he wanted more than hundred seats in this region to go to candidates selected by him, but the party leadership would not agree.

Subsequently, a compromise agreement was reached, possibly with inputs from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and eight of his candidates were fielded.

In March 2010, Adityanath was one of several BJP MPs who started the defiance to the party whip on the Women’s Reservation Bill.

Adityanath is the Mahant (head priest) of the Gorakhnath Mutt, a Hindu temple in Gorakhpur, following the death of his spiritual “father,” Mahant Avaidyanath in September 2014.

Though known more for his rightist Hindu politics, it is to his credit that people in Gorakhpur, especially around the temple, hold him in high esteem irrespective of whichever caste or community they belong to.

Even Muslims around the temple are given protection by the Yogi.

He is also the founder of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, a social, cultural and nationalist group of youth who seek to provide rightist Hindu platform.

Yogi Adityanath comes from a Rajput family. He completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Science from Uttarakhand

In January 2007, an altercation involving a Hindu group and Muslims broke out during a Muharram procession in Gorakhpur which led to the hospitalisation of a young Hindu, Raj Kumar Agrahari.

The District Magistrate had made it clear that Adityanath should not visit the site as it may inflame tensions.

He initially agreed but after Agrahari died, he disobeyed the magistrate and travelled to the site with a group of his followers.

Adityanath then started a non—violent dharna on the site.

However, inflammatory speeches were made and some of his followers even set fire to a nearby mazar (Muslim mausoleum).

Curfew was imposed by the local police, but Adityanath broke it and was subsequently jailed.

He was arrested and remanded for a fortnight, on charges of disturbing peace. 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.

The tensions escalated to riots across Gorakhpur leading to the burning of mosques, homes, buses and trains.

During the intolerance debate in the media, Adityanath compared Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan to Pakistani terrorist Hafiz Saeed.

He had said, “Shah Rukh Khan should remember that majority population of the country made him the star, and if they boycott his films, he will also have to wander on streets. It is unfortunate SRK is speaking the same language that of Hafiz Saeed.”

That he is not someone who minces words while expressing himself was was manifested when he came out full throttle for yoga in the midst of controversy over the issue saying that those who oppose Surya Namaskar can leave India.

He also made a request that those who see communalism in even Sun God should drown drown themselves in the sea or live in a dark room for the rest of their lives.

On January 3, 2016, one day after the terror attack on an IAF base in Pathankot, Adityanath blamed the assault on Pakistan, claiming, “The Pathankot attack has once again proved that Satan could change for the better but Pakistan cannot