My Way Or The Highway Is Adityanath's Clear Message To BJP

A furious Yogi Adityanath is paying the quintessential heartland political game and running rings around the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its president, Amit Shah. On one hand, Adityanath, five time-MP from Gorakhpur and the Mahant (priest) of the Goraknath Math, has ensured that the politics of polarization, close to his heart, such as a debunked Hindu exodus from Kairana, are centre stage  in the manifesto.

On the other is the rather fantastical claim that the special purpose vehicle (SPV) of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, which he founded as a youth outfit in 2000, and which draws funds and sustenance from him is farcically acting in opposition to him by declaring its own candidates to rival the BJP.  

In Eastern UP, which is Adityanath's neck of the woods, the HYV, with greater sway than either the RSS or the BJP, has already announced 64 candidates. All of them figured in the short-list given by 43-year-old Adityanath to Shah, who rejected them. This was the first time that Adityanath's hold over what is called "Mahant's Ilaka" (the priest's turf) was challenged - and Adityanath reacted tactically by check-mating Shah with his own list, courtesy the HSB, while claiming that he would expel the officer-bearers who "overruled" him. His team in turn went public on the "injustice done to our inspiration" and blamed "Amit Shah for doing black magic on the Hindu Hridaya Samrat" (ruler of the Hindu heart).
 Handling Adityanath has always been a delicate matter for the BJP and even the RSS. The fiery leader is the only one who has never needed Sangh or BJP cadre support to win his five elections. Adityanath is angry with Modi and Shah and makes no bones about it. His contention is that as a five-term MP, he deserved a union ministry, but was denied that. Then he was promised his heart's desire: his anointment as the BJP's Chief Ministerial face, but even that promise was broken. Says a member of his camp "Agar Yogi chahey toh Eastern UP mein Shah ki entry band ho jaayegi. Magar woh tap kar rahein hain. Woh ek mass leader hain, or Dilli ek neta sirf aapna chehra chamkana chahtey hain (If Adityanath wants, he can ensure Shah will not be able to enter Eastern UP. But he is helping the BJP, which is back-stabbing him. Some leaders in Delhi are insecure about his mass base and want only to promotes their own faces."

This is not a subtle dig at the Modi and Shah duo who are the only faces on the BJP posters.

Unfortunately for them, the BJP's campaign sans a Chief Ministerial choice, with Modi as the sole poster boy has not really been a success. The alliance between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, and Mayawati's strong campaign and strategic candidate choices, have left Shah in a dizzy.

As first reported by this writer, Shah's gamble of skipping a presumptive Chief Minister and making it all about Modi and demonetization does not appear to be paying off as yet. Modi, despite his fabled oratory, is not connecting with the voters through his speeches on the wonders of demonetization. In the reality of the backwardness of UP with its lack of infrastructure such as even a two-hour steady supply of electricity, all talk of a cashless and digital economy seems like a cruel joke.

Modi is now scaling back his rallies after being greeted by unsubstantial crowds, and BJP leaders now say the election is about "local issues". Gone is the focus on vikas (development). The fumbling makes for a great entry point for Adityanath. Sources say he told Shah and top RSS leaders that the BJP campaign was not working and they had to get back to the basics of Hindutva. Adityanath agreed to be present on the dais with Shah for the release of the BJP's manifesto only after it was agreed that the agenda would include the exodus of Hindus from Kairana amid communal riots, love jihad or alleged luring of Hindu women into conversion by young Muslim men, the shutting down of slaughter houses and the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
 These are the core issues for the BJP, Adityanath told the RSS. Sources say he said bluntly, "What (else) will you talk about? We have only empty promises to show the voter. Where is the vikas or the acche din? The Dalits and Muslims will ensure that the BJP is wiped out from UP." In a final flourish, Adityanath said "ab bhojan nahi bhog" (no more appeasement of the Dalits, let's cater to our upper caste supporters). Shah is already under attack from cadre over the host of tickets he has given to defectors who joined the BJP, as also for allowing relatives of leaders to run as candidates in a cadre-based party like the BJP. He reportedly agreed that the situation had to be salvaged.

While BJP candidates are angry at being overlooked for new entries, even the RSS is concerned about the primacy accorded to defectors and the flowering of dynasty in the BJP. Adityanath's camp has put up posters emphasizing his lack of family ties, similar to the time much was made of Modi's "lack of family and selfless service".

With Modi being the single target of the opposition, and Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi and Mayawati echoing each other in attacking him, the BJP feels it may be wiser to pull back the focus from him lest he be singed like he was in Bihar and Delhi.

My forecast? Expect to see much more of Adityanath, less of demonetization as a campaign theme, more of Adityanath, and a liberal amount of speeches from him calling for the "remembrance of rape and riots" and the fact that "Western UP is like Kashmir" in its exodus of Hindus. Adityanath is just getting started, and if the BJP  doesn't want to play along, he has an alternative in place.

(Swati Chaturvedi is an author and a journalist who has worked with The Indian Express, The Statesman and The Hindustan Times.)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.