BJP & RSS resolved, Yogi Adityanath set to 'face' 2022 Uttar Pradesh election litmus test

The whole of last week saw senior BJP and RSS leaders in Uttar Pradesh amidst rumours of disenchantment within the party. With a few months left to the elections in the state, BJP is gearing up for one of its biggest political battles and it would not be an exaggeration to say that the outcome of this one would determine the political fate of the country going forward. All eyes glued on one man - Yogi Adityanath.

Country's tallest 'Hindutva' icon?

Rewind to 2017 and you would remember the slugfest for the top post. The strong 'Hindutva' image that many thought may hinder Yogi's chances at Chief Ministership became his biggest strength. Today the saffron-clad Yogi tops the list of BJP's star campaigners from Tamil Nadu to Hyderabad and Kerala to Bengal. From heading the Gorakhnath math as their Mahant, Yogi as the administrator of the state has taken his brand of Hindutva politics to the next level with stringent laws on 'love jihad' and cow slaughter. Yogi today is not only the biggest star campaigner for the party after PM Modi, but he is also the country's tallest 'Hindutva' icon.

The growing popularity of Yogi has been a well-known fact. Yogi Adityanath would be the first BJP Chief Minister to complete the 5-year tenure in UP. A feat not completed even by the likes of Rajnath Singh and Kalyan Singh. Samajwadi Party in Akhilesh Yadav has been trying hard to put up a strong fight but Mayawati and the Congress have been on the fringes. With a weak integrated attack by the Opposition, the Yogi enigma only got bigger.

Cracking the whip on dreaded land mafia and gangsters like Mukhtar Ansari, Bablu Srivastav, Vikas Dubey, the Yogi administration was keen to take up the issue of 'mafia raj' long ignored under the SP and BSP era. It was the first time that the people of the state saw an anti-land mafia task force. According to the latest data, about 54,000 hectares of land was freed from the land mafia. The land thus freed is to serve as a land bank for investment in the State as well as help in providing land pattas to poor families with no shelter.

COVID-19 was the biggest chance that the opposition got at breaking down the Yogi euphoria but it would be right to say that it could not encash it. With the Allahabad High Court's initial observations on the government's lack of preparedness to tackle the pandemic, there were praises for the 'UP model ' by the WHO and also the Bombay High Court that lauded it for its preparations for a third wave.

The opposition was hammering a 'tweet attack' while Yogi was perhaps the only Chief Minister who was seen travelling to different districts during COVID-19 even though he was himself still recuperating from the viral infection. Amidst rumours of the CM facing opposition at home, the party has made it clear that it will go to polls under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath, this one being a true litmus test. 2017 election was completely fought on Modi's name. But this time around the party has a face and the saffron-clad Yogi has made it clear he's here to stay.

(Image: PTI)