Uttar Pradesh Elections: Why is CM Yogi Adityanath being called 'Bulldozer Baba'?

Celebrations kicked off in Uttar Pradesh in the afternoon on Thursday since the Bharatiya Janata Party achieved the unassailable lead in the assembly elections. The BJP's handsome win in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections finally broke a 36-year-old jinx of the incumbent government being voted back to power in the state. He has also decimated the jinx which stated that if the sitting Chief Minister visits Noida, then he or she will be staring at the 'probable defeat' in the next Assembly elections.

As saffron party workers celebrate the victory, Bulldozer has become the mascot for BJP as CM Yogi Adityanath has been nicknamed 'Bulldozer Baba'.

Why is Yogi Adityanath being called 'Bulldozer Baba'?

The term 'bulldozer' has become as famous as BJP's lotus symbol in Uttar Pradesh. This was a result of CM Adityanath’s stern attitude against henchmen and mafias, to whom he had warned that after coming back to power, he will run ‘bulldozer’ of strong governance on them.

The UP CM had also mentioned bulldozers in his campaign speeches. In one of the election campaigns, he had said that bulldozers are used for building expressways and highways. "At the same time, we are using it to crush the mafia who exploited people to build their properties."

It should also be noted that Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had also called CM Yogi Adityanath 'Baba bulldozer' and said that he will lose the elections.

Interestingly, since BJP came to power in 2017, over 67,000 acres of government land has been freed from the hands of goons and mafias in the state with the help of bulldozers.

BJP sweeps assembly elections

As per EC trends, in UP, Yogi Adityanath has won an unprecedented second term as Uttar Pradesh CM as SP failed to stop the saffron party from returning to power. BJP retained its majority (albeit reduced) by winning 197 seats while leading on 58 seats, while SP won 72 seats and is leading on 38 seats. BSP on the other hand was reduced to a single seat. AIMIM failed to open its tally.

Image: ANI, PTI