Why Modi is overshadowing Yogi in UP Election

The way Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been visiting Uttar Pradesh frequently and inaugurating or laying the foundation of the projects, questions are being raised as to why Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been overshadowed by the Prime Minister.

“This is an overdose of Modi in Uttar Pradesh now. Where is Yogi in the election campaign in Uttar Pradesh,” asked a senior RSS leader.

He said, "we have learned a bitter lesson in the Bengal election where the battle turned out to be between Modi and Mamata. But UP is different. We have a face in UP, unlike Bengal where we were struggling to get a new face. Here sidelining Yogi could prove detrimental."

senior Congress leader Amarnath Agarwal quips: “Modi is leading the campaign because Yogi has failed on all fronts. This proves our allegations that last five years were the worst where the governance suffered because of Yogi.”

Yogi is the poster boy of Sangh’s Hindutva factory. This is no longer a secret that Modi never wanted Yogi to be the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He was forced to accept Yogi as Chief Minister because of the pressure from the RSS. Initially, it was believed that Yogi would be changed mid-way and would be replaced with a more acceptable face. But this never happened because the RSS never agreed to it.

Early this year, when word started spreading that Yogi is anti-OBC and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya showed his resentment in projecting Yogi as Chief Ministerial candidate, the RSS reporedly prevailed again as it organised a `lunch’ at the residence of Maurya which was attended by senior Sangh leaders and in-charge of BJP in the state. That time too the Sangh was able to placate Maurya and later he gave a statement that the party would contest the assembly election under the party symbol.

With this in the background, the way Modi has emerged in the electoral scene of Uttar Pradesh pushing other leaders behind, a pertinent question is being raised as why Yogi is being overshadowed by Modi. The electoral battle is slowly turning into Modi versus others rather than Yogi versus others.

“The Prime Minister is now inaugurating or laying the foundation of state-oriented schemes like paying honorarium to Self Help Groups in Praygraj early this week or laying the foundation of Ganga Expressway in Shahajahanpur last week. Next week, Modi will visit Kanpur to inaugurate Metro service and on January 4, he is expected to declare open the Bundelkhand Expressway. "These are all local projects and in a true sense Yogi’s ideas. Modi is unnecessary taking credit of these projects,” a senior BJP leader said.

He however said that this is sending a wrong message. It projects that Yogi has not performed well and that is why Modi is coming as a cover-up for Yogi’s bad performance.

One reason as to why Modi has taken the lead in campaigning could be that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has primarily implemented central government schemes like Ujjawala Yojana, Swachch Bharat mission, Saubhagya Yojana, and the schemes under women empowerment and education.

“Tell me one scheme which Yogi can claim it is his brainchild. Purvanchal Expressway was Akhilesh’s project while Ganga Expressway was Mayawati’s brainchild. Other schemes are central government schemes. So, to shield Yogi, Prime Minister has come in front,” Congress leader Agarwal said.