Why is Yogi factor being discussed amid BJP’s defeat in UP?
Samajwadi Party has overtaken BJP in the Lok Sabha elections in UP. BJP has won 33 seats while Samajwadi Party and Congress together have won 43 seats. Obviously, the reasons for BJP’s defeat are being searched for. Many reasons for the defeat are coming to the fore. Akhilesh Yadav’s Muslim-Yadav, backward Dalit equation worked. It is also being said that BJP did not get the votes of its core voters. The most important of which were Rajput voters. Some people say that the prophetic statement of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal worked. Kejriwal had said in the middle of the elections that if BJP comes to power again, it will remove Yogi from the post of Chief Minister, just like it removed Shivraj Singh Chauhan from Madhya Pradesh. In this way, the reason for BJP’s loss from Rajasthan to Uttar Pradesh is being attributed to the anger of Rajput voters. Due to some such reasons, jokes and memes have suddenly started appearing on social media, looking at which it seems that UP CM Yogi Adityanath has become responsible for BJP’s defeat in these elections. In this, the statements of Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, who lost the election, and Sakshi Maharaj, who won by a very small margin, are also being taken into account. Who have accused of sabotage regarding the election results of UP.
1- Importance of Yogi in BJP
In today’s Bharatiya Janata Party, the importance of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in BJP cannot be underestimated. His demand in the election campaign of BJP is probably the highest after PM Narendra Modi, not only in Uttar Pradesh but in the entire country. Even in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, if Narendra Modi has done 206 rallies and meetings, then Yogi Adityanath did 204 rallies and meetings. Chief Ministers of many states and state presidents of the party had written letters demanding a meeting of Yogi Adityanath. The popularity of Hindu Hriday Samrat Yogi Adityanath, who has become the poster boy of the party, and his support for the party is no less than anyone else. His working style was followed by the Chief Ministers of many states of the country. Bulldozer Baba is cited as an example for improving law and order in opposition-ruled states. He is discussed for different reasons from North India to South India. He has been seen as a guarantee of law and order in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. This time too, PM Modi himself praised him for the law and order and development of Uttar Pradesh.
2- Yogi’s importance in UP
Yogi Adityanath’s party Hindu Yuva Vahini used to work parallel to the Bharatiya Janata Party in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh. Which has now been dissolved. Till 2 decades ago, Yogi used to contest his elections with the election symbol of a horse rider. Before Yogi, Gorakhnath Math Mahant Avaidyanath used to contest the Parliament elections and Yogi for the MLA post. If BJP did not field a candidate of the Math’s choice in the areas around Gorakhpur, then it would have to face a strong candidate of Hindu Yuva Vahini. Such arrangements were made by the monastery that a slogan became famous in Gorakhpur that if you want to live in Gorakhpur, then you have to say Yogi Yogi.
Yogi’s opponents are discussing this style of his work today. For this, they are discussing the Lok Sabha by-election held in Gorakhpur in 2018 and the Ghosi by-election held in 2023. Actually, in 2017, Yogi Adityanath had to leave his parliamentary seat after becoming the CM. By-elections were held on the Gorakhpur seat and the BJP lost the seat which was Yogi’s stronghold after he became the CM. Obviously, questions were bound to be raised on CM Yogi. The CM’s opponents said that due to the person of Yogi’s choice not getting the ticket, he deliberately did not campaign wholeheartedly in the elections. Similarly, on the defeat in the Ghosi by-election, it has been said that he became a hurdle in the way of making Dara Singh Chauhan an MLA because he was not in favor of bringing Chauhan to the BJP. What I mean to say is that when Yogi Adityanath is teased, he definitely reacts.
3- Why are Yogi supporters angry
There are enough reasons for Yogi supporters to be angry in UP. Supporters say that Yogi is treated step-motherly in BJP. The way Yogi puts his heart and soul into the party, he is not given full-fledged power for election campaigns. Even his supporters do not get tickets. Yogi supporters are angry about the fact that Yogi does not get the power to appoint officers of his choice. However, CM Yogi has never shown such behavior in public life, which can be said that he is angry with his central leadership in this matter. There are many BJP leaders in Uttar Pradesh who have not been giving importance to Yogi. Brajbhushan Sharan Singh, a leader accused of misbehaving with women players, keeps criticizing Yogi Adityanath directly on the pretext of bulldozer action. Some people in the cabinet have also been disobeying Yogi’s orders from within. All these things have been such that it has spread deep in the Rajput society that after the Modi government becomes strong, Yogi will be removed from the post of Chief Minister.
4- The connection between Yogi and Rajput voters’ displeasure is baseless
However, how naive are those who link the defeat in Uttar Pradesh to the anger of Rajputs can be understood from the results of Uttar Pradesh. Rahul Gandhi won the election in Rae Bareli by about four and a half lakh votes. In comparison to this, how insignificant is the victory of Rajnath Singh. Did the Rajputs not vote for Rajnath Singh as well? If the Rajputs did not vote for the BJP, then how did BJP candidate Atul Garg win by three and a half lakh votes in Ghaziabad? In Noida too, Mahesh Sharma won by an even bigger margin than this. Both these seats are most Rajput dominated. Rajputs are in decisive numbers in Bulandshahr, here too BJP won.
In Aligarh, BJP won by a very close margin, which was possible because BJP got a lead of 35 thousand from the Rajput dominated Barauli assembly. In Dumariyaganj, Samajwadi Party candidate Harishankar Tiwari’s son Kushal Tiwari was pitted against BJP’s Rajput candidate Jagdambika Pal. Jagdambika Pal has also won. Actually, BJP will have to think about why it did not get votes. Otherwise, would PM Modi not have won by only one and a half lakh votes? By blaming Yogi Adityanath for Rajput votes, BJP will only harm itself. Lallu Singh was a Rajput candidate from Ayodhya and Rajputs also consider Ramlala as their ancestor. How is it possible that Rajputs did not vote for BJP?
