Yogi Adityanath, five time BJP MP, named new Uttar Pradesh chief minister

BJP president Amit Shah is scheduled to meet the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) today evening.

As soon as it was decided that the saffron-robed Gorakhpur MP will hold the reins of the state that raised eyebrows, party leaders and MLAs rushed to the dais with candies and garlands. “It is odd that they have yet not been able to select their Chief Minister for Uttar Pradesh”, he said.

After days of intense speculation on who will be declared the next UP CM, the BJP picked Yogi Adityanath for the top job in Lucknow on Saturday.

Manoj Sinha in New Delhi on Friday.

– Om Mathur has reached the airport. Presently he is the Minister of State of Communications and Minister of State for Railways.

The BJP UP Chief – Mr Keshav Prasad Maurya is a leader of the Most Backward Castes (MBCs) who played an important role in the BJP’s win. The minister is returning to Varanasi.

Despite keeping a relatively low-profile following the election victory, Adityanath is not one to stay out of the limelight and was a controversial and prominent face during the election campaign in Uttar Pradesh and emerged as the BJP’s power-centre in Poorvanchal. “We spoke to all the MLAs about their choice”, Naidu told the media adding that Adityanath suggested the idea of having two deputy CMs since UP is a big state.

– Rahul Gandhi ji has been running the party for the last ten years.

The BJP, he said, will not let Western Uttar Pradesh turn into “another Kashmir”, a reference to the forced migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in the 1990s.

The disappointing aspect of at least two appointments – Yogi Adityanath and KP Maurya – is that the leaders have faced criminal charges.

Political analysts said the choice of Yogi Adityanath points at the fact that the BJP is playing its Hindu agenda to the gallery and is not willing to take its eye off its core voters.

– According to the Raj Bhavan, the timing of swearing-in ceremony has been advanced, and it is now likely to be held at 2.15 pm on Sunday.

Since the BJP’s mandate in Uttar Pradesh is beyond arithmetic, the party leadership is looking for a formidable chief ministerial candidate, who must be someone who can take all communities along with him. Manoj Sinha has a trail of being loyal and a humble politician.

Yogi Adityanath was not projected as the chief ministerial face during the election campaign in Uttar Pradesh as that department was taken care of exclusively by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu and BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav will also be present at the meeting as party’s central observers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah seem to have zeroed in on Sinha following extensive consultations with the MLAs and other senior politicians.