From the moment Yogi Adityanath was selected as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh by BJP after the 2017 elections, he has been in the cross-hairs of Indian elites. Reminding us of the coverage Narendra Modi got during his tenure as Gujarat CM, Yogi Adityanath was subjected to all sorts of attacks from the usual suspects over the past 5 years. However, all those attacks came to nought as Yogi Adityanath returns to power with a thumping majority.
Casteism allegations
It started with Congress and their ecosystem trying to push Yogi as a casteist Thakur, who will ignore all other castes. They thought addressing Yogi Adityanath as Ajay Bisht will lead to the downfall of BJP in Uttar Pradesh, as it will remind everyone that Yogi was born a Thakur. However, what they didn’t realize, unlike most of the voters, is that Goraknath’s mahant is a casteless entity.
Militant Monk
Barely a year after his ascension to the post of Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath was derided as an “Islamophobic militant monk” in global publications like the Washington Post. Even though they couldn’t pinpoint which particular policy is against Muslims, the tag of Islamophobia was here to stay just because he didn’t do any appeasement politics.
Anti-Romeo Squads
In a state where women were scared to venture out alone, Yogi Adityanath created “Anti-Romeo squads“. Instead of focusing on the intent of such squads, Shakespeare’s disciples got upset that Yogi Adityanath is out to arrest every Romeo, a true Shakespearean hero. Now in 2022, women are voting overwhelmingly for BJP over the improved law and order situation.
Anti-CAA protests
During the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), once again attempts were made to instigate maximum protests in Uttar Pradesh. However, once again, Yogi Adityanath cracked down on any sort of violence with an iron fist and made sure people’s daily lives are not disturbed. Something that didn’t happen in Delhi as lakhs of commuters suffered for months due to Shaheen Bagh protests.
Coronavirus handling
However, the worst attacks that Yogi Adityanath faced, were during Coronavirus days, particularly during the second wave. As Maharashtra and Kerala kept topping the Covid numbers, and as Delhi ran out of Oxygen, the entire media focus was on Uttar Pradesh. Old practice of some Hindus burying their dead along the banks of holy river Ganga, or immersing their dead in the Ganga, was abused. Government of UP was blamed for hiding Covid deaths by leaving the dead bodies alongside the river.
Not only this, the media attacked Yogi Adityanath for rising cases due to Kumbh, which was held in Uttarakhand. However, Geography is not the strongest suit of Indian liberals so we can let that pass.
As it turned out, Uttar Pradesh turned out to be one of the best performing Indian states when it comes to handling Covid. With the population equal to a country like Brazil, Yogi Adityanath managed to bring the cases down much faster, and normal life resumed much sooner than most other states.’
Having come through 5 years of relentless attacks from the Indian left to get re-elected, Yogi Adityanath is following the same path that was followed by PM Narendra Modi. If he keeps getting attacked similarly for another term, it won’t be a surprise if he does end up as the Prime Minister of India, like Narendra Modi.
