The political stature of Yogi Adityanath, as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ajay Mohan Singh Bisht is popularly known, has gone up by several notches following the recently concluded round of Assembly elections. Victories in seven of the nine constituencies where bypolls were held have firmly established the saffron-clad seer-turned-politician as one of the frontline leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Yogi’s role in shaping the Mahayuti’s (BJP-led coalition) unprecedented victory in the Maharashtra assembly elections was crucial. He emerged as one of the most sought-after speakers during the Maharashtra campaign, and his catchy slogan “Batenge toh katenge” became an instant hit in the Uttar Pradesh by-polls, with its potential to unite the Hindu voters by creating a fear-psychosis among them. Yogi brought this slogan to Maharashtra, and it suddenly transformed the political scene, propelling the Mahayuti, which was earlier trailing the rival Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), to surge ahead and secure a historic, heavily one-sided mandate.
Until Yogi’s arrival with his slogan, the BJP appeared somewhat confused and struggling in Maharashtra. There was not much to boast about regarding the achievements of the Mahayuti government during its two-and-a-half-year tenure, apart from the pre-poll announcement of the “Ladki Bahin” scheme, a financial dole for women. Though it created the right noises, it lacked the potential to generate significant traction in the BJP’s support. Yogi’s “Batenge toh Katenge” slogan came as a timely course correction, which ended up creating an electoral Tsunami in the Mahayuti’s favour.
The impact of Yogi’s slogan was so profound that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, considered a past master at coining catchy slogans, was virtually forced to go with Yogi and tweak it to come up with his version, “Ek hain toh safe hain”, which further reinforced the message that the Hindu voters must rally behind the Mahayuti to safeguard themselves from the unforeseen danger that a divided Hindu society might encounter.
These twin slogans, based on the same theme, witnessed a ripple impact across the country, barring Jharkhand and West Bengal. Jharkhand was already under the grip of anti-BJP sentiments since the party was seen as anti-tribal following the unwise arrest of the state Chief Minister, Hemant Soren, in a corruption case that could not withstand judicial scrutiny. In West Bengal, where the ruling Trinamool Congress ended up winning all six seats, the BJP strategically did not push the matter, as it did not wish to expose its vulnerabilities in the state.
Although Yogi credited Modi for the victories of the BJP-led NDA in seven of the nine seats in Uttar Pradesh, it is no secret that the credit belonged to Yogi. The BJP had fared poorly in Uttar Pradesh during the June Lok Sabha polls, winning only 33 seats compared to the 65 it had won in 2019. The loss of these 29 seats in a way prevented the BJP from securing a majority on its own. Since then, murmurs against Yogi Adityanath were growing, and an adverse result in the by-polls could have jeopardised his position as the Chief Minister.
The BJP’s central leadership also realised its mistakes that led to the Lok Sabha debacle in Uttar Pradesh earlier this year. The powers within the party were uncomfortable with Yogi’s growing stature and largely overlooked his recommendations in finalising the list of candidates. He did campaign, but half-heartedly, and the BJP paid the price. This time around, the BJP went by his recommendations and witnessed the transformation. The Samajwadi Party and its allies under the INDIA bloc, confident of sweeping all nine seats, were at the receiving end. The Samajwadi Party and the Congress were painted as pro-Muslim, and the Hindu votes galvanised, scripting a change in the BJP’s fortunes in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and beyond.
Moreover, the BJP’s central leadership had other reasons to recognise Yogi’s potential and the harm his angst could cause. They lacked a leader of his stature and popularity to even consider replacing him with someone else. And Yogi, in the past, had shown in no uncertain terms that he does possess a rebellious nature. He was instrumental in fielding some candidates under the Hindu Mahasabha banner against the official BJP candidates in the 2002 Assembly elections when his recommendations in his Lok Sabha constituency of Gorakhpur were overlooked, leading to the defeats of the BJP candidates. Yogi Adityanath had by then won the Gorakhpur seat twice and demonstrated his stronghold over the eastern Uttar Pradesh region, going on to win the Gorakhpur seat five times in a row. This lasted till 2017 when he was anointed by the BJP to head its government in Uttar Pradesh.
The wisdom prevailed. Yogi, like Modi, believes in the “my way or the highway” philosophy, and the BJP recognised that it stood to gain nothing by ignoring and antagonising him.
The end result — the BJP emerged the winner, and Yogi Adityanath became the player of the match. Not only is he now safe in his chair, but his detractors have all been silenced. Post-polls, he has emerged as one of the top leaders of the party. It was perhaps about time for the BJP to look beyond Modi and his close confidante, Amit Shah, who is virtually seen as the number two in the Modi government due to the enormous power he wields. Modi is already 74 and it is difficult to imagine if Amit Shah would emerge as his automatic successor. The BJP is also under pressure from its parent organisation, the RSS, to decentralise so that the next generation of leadership can be groomed.
After the Uttar Pradesh bypolls and the Maharashtra elections, Yogi Adityanath has undoubtedly emerged as a force to reckon with, both within the BJP and the entire nation, making him the prominent BJP leader after the Modi-Shah duo.
Ajay Jha is a senior journalist, author and political commentator
