NEW DELHI:
Congress has decided to drop ‘Yogi’ from the name of Uttar Pradesh chief minister
Yogi Adityanath in its comments to media, as the party seeks to question the
BJP mascot’s credentials in the countdown to the election season.
AICC general secretary in charge of communications
Randeep Surjewala told TOI, “The media department has decided to refer to UP chief minister as only Adityanath. A chief minister who lords over the death of 200 infants and razing of Dalit houses, who protects MLAs and leaders accused of rape is not a ‘yogi’ (ascetic) but a bhogi (materialist).”
Surjewala said the UP CM will be given respect with honorifics but there would be no prefix of “yogi” which connotes a special meaning. The decision signals a “bold” position against Hindutva even at the risk of coming across as derogative of religious orders associated with saffron robes.
While it is to be seen how effective the decision is, Surjewala on Wednesday followed his word by launching a scathing attack on the UP CM, asking for his resignation over the Unnao rape case, but without once mentioning “Yogi”. He used his name both with and without honorifics, even invoking his old name “Ajay Kumar Bisht”.
While individual leaders do make statements, “communications department” is the opposition party’s interlocutor with public, issuing its official stand on persons and events.
The decision, as spelt out to TOI by the AICC general secretary, implies that party spokespersons are being or will be instructed accordingly. The move appears part of Congress aggression against the CM who the party believes has to be put under pressure on governance issues to blunt his popularity.
Some negative developments for BJP in UP over recent months have raised hopes in the opposition camp, with even BJP’s principal rivals in the state — SP and BSP— throwing away their initial inhibition to attack the CM, especially in the wake of the recent saffron defeat in Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats, vacated by Yogi
Adityanath himself and his deputy Keshav Maurya.
Yogi Adityanath landed in the Congress crosshairs after BJP fielded him to kickstart its campaign in election-bound Karnataka. While the ruling party used the UP CM widely in Gujarat and Tripura polls, his early entry in Karnataka, where he launched a shrill attack on chief minister Siddaramaiah, raised the hackles of the Congress brass.
Evidently, there was elation at the BJP defeat in Gorakhpur and Phulpur elections, with CM Siddaramaiah chiding UP CM on twitter. “Congratulations to SP and BSP for this historic victory. Unity among the non-BJP parties has played a key role. Perhaps Yogi Adityanath should spend less time lecturing Karnataka on development,” Siddaramaiah said in a tweet.
