BJP looks for a Yogi miracle in UP

TRUMP CARD? The BJP wants the Yogi to work his magic in the seventh phase of UP polls.

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Gorakhpur: He's a mahant who loves the adulation and loves making his followers chant religious slogans in political rallies. A religious leader, Yogi Adityanth was the man who allegedly stoked communal passions that led to riots in Gorakhpur in January this year.

This BJP MP once wept in Parliament complaining that he was being harassed by the Mulayam Singh Government. He is now a star campaigner of the BJP in the UP elections. He says his religio-political influence is bound to work wonders.

According to Yogi Adityanath, the Yogi factor will definitely bring results. "Yogi factor ek under-current hai. Aur unha kewal apna prakash dikhayega, result dega. Unha pradarshit nahi karega. (Yogi factor is an under-current. It will only show results, it will not show in the field)," the BJP MP claims.

Believe it or not, Adityanath is the only BJP campaigner in UP loading his election speeches with Hindutva rhetoric. The BJP has lent him a chopper, granted tickets to 16 of the mahant's handpicked nominees and even sent chief ministers over to humour him.

The 35-year-old maverick Yogi is his own boss and doesn't care too much for the directions coming from the party high command. He even has a word of caution for the BJP leadership.

"Mein Hindutva ke liye samarpit hoon. Bhaajpa Hindutva ke paksh mein jab tak rahega, mein Bhaajpa ke saath rahonga. Bhaajpa agar Hindutva se muh muregi, toh mein Bhaajpa se moh murunga, (I am dedicated to the cause of Hindutva. I will stay with the BJP till the time the party swears by Hindutva. The moment BJP turns its back on Hindutva, I will turn my back on the party.)" Adityanath declares.

But the Samajwadi Party is not too impressed with the Yogi factor.

"Kya hai yeh Yogi factor? Woh factor khatam ho gaya hai. Yogi ka toh koi naam aur nishan nahi raha (What is this Yogi factor. It's long over. There is nothing left of the Yogi factor)," claims an SP leader.

The BJP wants the Yogi to work his magic and help the party come up trumps in the seventh phase of the Uttar Pradesh polls. But Yogi Adityanath hasn't grown too far beyond the Gorakshnath temple and cannot do what an Uma Bharati would have easily done for the party two years ago.

(With cameraperson KKRana and Avnish Mishra)