Losing ground, BJP summons Yogi to Gujarat to whip up Hindutva wave

Realising that the going would be tough for the BJP in Gujarat, the party leadership has summoned Yogi Adityanath, their saffron mascot from Uttar Pradesh, to whip up Hindutva feelings in this western state which will witness a two-phase Assembly election from December 9.

Yogi is likely to start his Gujarat campaign from November 29. The tentative schedule has been made for two days of Nov 29 and 30 but he is expected to address a series of rallies from December 2 onwards.

Arun Singh, senior party leader from Gujarat, met UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday night and requested him to go for a whirlwind campaign tour of Gujarat for six to eight days.

“Yogiji is much in demand in Gujarat. The candidates want him to address just one rally in each of their constituencies. It is not possible to for Yogiji to cover entire Gujarat but he will address rallies in select regions,” Singh told National Herald.

He did not elaborate on the reason for this sudden change of plans but said that after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, the UP Chief Minister was BJP’s most important star campaigner.

Yogi Adityanath had already participated in BJP’s Gujarat campaign and had joined the Gujarat Gaurav Yatra in mid-October. But Singh did not refer to the sparse crowds that his roadshows drew. TV channels showed how ‘popular’ Yogi is in Gujarat. He had spent two days in the state and had even addressed a public meeting in the border district of Bhuj.

The party leadership has commissioned Yogi Adityanath with the task because it wants to cash in on the firebrand leader’s charisma and fiery oratory skills that is liked by a section of the electorate.

After winding up the campaign for BJP candidates contesting in UP’s local body elections, Yogi Adityanath will proceed to Gujarat, Mritunja Kumar, information advisor of the UP Chief Minister, said.

“In the first phase, Yogi Adityanath will campaign for two days, beginning on November 29,” the spokesperson said. “In the second round, he will visit Gujarat again for three days from December 6. But, there is also a proposal for his visit to Gujarat on December 4 and 5.”

Though the Gujarat election campaign programme of Adityanath is yet to be disclosed but reliable sources told National Herald that the UP Chief Minister, who is pursuing the party’s Hindutva agenda vocally and aggressively, will address rallies in pockets where people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, mainly migrant labourers, are concentrated. The 182-member Gujarat Assembly will go to polls in two phases on December 9 and 14.