Yogi Adityanath led campaign, victory now elevates his stature

LUCKNOW: BJP’s clean sweep in the civic polls has elevated Adityanath Yogi’s stature in UP politics and BJP's own pecking order. Since this was the first crucial election under his leadership, Yogi led the BJP campaign, crisscrossing the state with 34 rallies.

In so doing, he raised stakes for himself in the first popularity test after BJP's mammoth victory. It was a risky thing to do because the saffron sweep of assembly polls had set the bar quite high and a sub-par performance would have been seen as a reflection on him. The gambit has paid off handsomely.

The results have put him as the undisputed leader of the party in UP and he has graduated into the league of regional satraps like Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati. In UP BJP, only Kalyan Singh and Rajnath Singh have enjoyed such a stature in the past.

Eight months after assuming office, Yogi has successfully managed to blend the issues — Hindutva and good governance. From celebrating a grand Diwali and kickstarting campaign from Ayodhya, painting the state secretariat in saffron and cracking down on madrasas, Yogi has played the Hindutva card to strengthen the party’s core vote bank. At the same time, he has taken crucial administrative decisions such as pulling up non-performers in the government, holding officials accountable and giving cops a free-hand to check law and order.

BJP didn’t name any CM candidate in the 2017 assembly elections as there was no strong leader in the state party. After the civic poll results, Yogi has managed to end the party’s leadership dilemma. Contrary to perceptions that Yogi’s popularity is confined to only Gorakhpur in East UP, he has managed to establish himself a pan-UP leader. The Hindutva poster boy has been campaigning in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat as well.

Since he became CM in March this year, there was no major corruption issue against the Yogi government.