UP CM Yogi Adityanath a handful for PM Modi in Uttar Pradesh
Gone is the fiery anti-Muslim rhetoric and promotion of Hindu supremacy for which the saffron-robed 44-year-old is
known, and in its place is a message of social inclusion more akin to
Modi's language since sweeping to power in 2014
Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi stunned the political
establishment by promoting a hardline Hindu priest to one of the
country's most powerful positions, Yogi Adityanath has sounded more
statesman than rabble-rouser.
Gone is the fiery anti-Muslim
rhetoric and promotion of Hindu supremacy for which the saffron-robed
44-year-old is known, and in its place is a message of social inclusion
more akin to Modi's language since sweeping to power in 2014.
"
My
government will be for everyone, not specifically for any caste or
community ... We will work for development of all sections and castes,"
Adityanath said shortly after being made chief minister of Uttar
Pradesh, India's most populous state.
The words jar with what the
shaven-headed leader of the Gorakhnath sect has been saying from public
platforms throughout a political career spanning nearly 20 years.
In
his northern power base - the down-at-heel town of Gorakhpur near the
Nepalese border - Adityanath's more conciliatory comments have done
little to dispel unease among members of the Muslim community, who make
up nearly a fifth of Uttar Pradesh's 200 million or so people.
"We should just go about doing our job and pray the Hindu Yuva Vahini
doesn't take over mosques to build new temples," said local driver Aijaz
Sheikh, referring to the Hindu Youth Force set up by Adityanath in 2002
to carry out his agenda.
"If we react then we will pay the price. The loss will be ours and no Hindu will come to stand with us in Gorakhpur."
Adityanath's
ascent has prompted widespread questions about India's secular status,
and whether Modi, himself a product of a nationalist Hindu upbringing,
intends to pursue more aggressive pro-Hindu policies as he pursues
economic reforms.
Adityanath was a key campaigner for Modi's
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh elections, and the
thumping victory he helped deliver underlined how a divisive candidate
could eclipse rivals who tried to reach out across communities.
"With
Yogi Adityanath's appointment, vigilantism has been upgraded into state
policy," said Gilles Verniers, assistant professor of political
sciences at Ashoka University outside Delhi.
In
a gleaming white temple compound in Gorakhpur, people crowd
Adityanath's offices to petition his band of fanatical followers in the
Hindu Youth Force to settle their personal grievances.
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