UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath In Gorakhpur Promises 'Na Jaati, Na Mazhab'

Gorakhpur: In his first public speech after taking charge as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath has vowed to give the state a government that would aggressively push the developmental agenda for all, one that would neither discriminate nor appease any group or community. Mr Adityanath who has been a Hindutva face of the party and has been known to make fiery speeches in the past, also seemed to advise his supporters to tone down. "Josh mein aake hosh nahi khona chahiye" (Don't get carried away by the victory)," the saffron-robed politician-priest told them, pointing that they should never take the law into their hands as this would give rivals who oppose development a handle. "This is our responsibility," he said.

Mr Adityanath has chosen to address his first public meeting as Chief Minister in Gorakhpur, the constituency that had sent him to parliament five times in a row. At a rally that was meant to felicitate him for his new, big job in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow - he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah for it - Mr Adityanath pledged not to allow rabble-rousers disrupt harmony in the state.

Mr Adityanath projected Gorakhpur as a model for the rest of the state in controlling crime and ending goondaraj and a state of lawlessness that he inherited from the Samajwadi Party government. For this, he added, Gorakhpur - where he had led a campaign after first becoming a lawmaker in 1998 - had served as laboratory and he would replicate the steps taken here elsewhere too. He attributed the decision to set up the Anti-Romeo Squads to the numerous calls received from "mothers and sisters" after he took charge.

Much of his speech was centered on the Modi government's development-for-all pitch that he declared would be replicated across the state to reach the last man.

"Yahan par kisi ke saath na jaati ke naam par, na mat ke naam par, na mazhab ke naam par, na ling ke naam par kisi prakar ka koi bhed bhaav nahi hoga. Vikas sabka hoga lekin tushtikaran kisi ka nahi hoga  (There will be no discrimination on grounds of caste, views, religion or gender. There will be development for all but appeasement of none," he said.

The reference to appeasement is in context of the charge that the BJP frequently levels at opposition parties from the BSP, Samajwadi Party and the Congress; that their policies are aimed at appeasing minorities, particularly Muslims. The Chief Minister told the boisterous crowd in his constituency that his government would introduce a Rs 1 lakh subsidy for pilgrims taking the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra to Tibet, that Hindus believe is the abode of Lord Shiva.

The Chief Minister also told his audience that he wouldn't be able to spend much time in Gorakhpur due to his onerous responsibility to serve the state's 22 crore population but he would make arrangements to ensure that they were taken care of. It was over the 19 years that he spent as lawmaker from Gorakhpur that Yogi Adityanath earned his reputation as a Hindutva mascot; the saffron robes - that he had switched into after he was taken in by the Mahant Avaidyanath of Gorakhnath Temple as a skinny, 20-year-old - also helped. Yogi Adityanath inherited his political legacy and became a parliamentarian in 1998. Mr Adityanath succeeded the affable Mahant as the temple's top priest after his death in 2014.